Rating: 
Summary: There is some good information in this book
Review:
"Rich Dad's Guide To Investing: What The Rich Invest In, That The Poor and Middle Class Do Not" is Part Three of Kiyosaki's personal money trilogy. The saga begins with Kiyosaki as a young military officer and fighter pilot returning home from war only to find his Poor (Employee) Dad recently unemployed. So, at age 52, Poor Dad is looking for work. Rich Dad has been building up his assets and is incredibly wealthy. Poor Dad is edited out of the sequel. After a day in Rich Dad's spacious mansion discussing accredited investors and private placement memorandums, Kiyosaki returns to his cramped officers' quarters, his three beer-guzzling, pizza-eating, TV-watching roommates, and his $12,000 annual officer's salary. Kiyosaki contemplates what he wants from his life. He decides not to re-enlist. He wants to become rich. And, his officer's pay won't cut it. Rich Dad agrees to resume his role as Kiyosaki's financial mentor. While I don't agree with everything in "Rich Dad's Guide To Investing," I think it is packed with some great observations, good advice, and excellent insight into wealth building. And, as with all RDPD books, it is highly readable. Kiyosaki says you should make a plan to be financially secure, a plan to be financially comfortable, and a plan to be rich. Kiyosaki points out that it is risky to have a plan to get rich without having a backup plan to become financially secure. This was my main criticism of the original "Rich Dad, Poor Dad." I thought Kiyosaki focused too much upon trying to become wealthy quickly, without any consideration of the person's financial position in the event that his/her aggressive plans failed to materialize. If Kiyosaki wants to get his educational materials more into the mainstream, formal educational system, he'll need to realize that saving, conservative investing, and prudent money management must be the foundation. Not trying to make a quick buck by trying to flip a real estate property. Kiyosaki says people don't stick to boring, but workable, plans. People want riches fast. They are pulled in by tales of those who make wealth quickly. Kiyosaki advises setting realistic goals based upon your level of financial knowledge. Then, as you gain experience, add more ambitious financial goals. Kiyosaki says to become a good investor, you should first understand business. He says your own business is your best aggressive investment. I agree. The IRS says 89% of the individuals who make $50,000 per year or more are the owners of small businesses, which is shocking when you consider the number of highly-paid professionals, such as doctors, lawyers, and computer programmers. If you raised the income level to above $100,000 per year, I have no doubt an even higher percentage of the high-earners would be business owners. So, Kiyosaki recommends starting a part-time business. Even if your part-time business doesn't make you a lot of money, you will learn about business. Kiyosaki says we have young billionaires because they created companies that people wanted to buy. He compares investors to people buying tickets to a game. Businesses are the one selling the tickets to the game (i.e., shares of stock). He acknowledges that part of the huge creation of recent wealth is due to Internet-IPO mania. I particularly liked the sections called "Sharon's Notes." Sharon Lechter stresses the importance of a business having a mission, other than just making the founders rich. She says she expects many .coms to fail, because their only real goal was to make the founders and venture capitalists rich quickly by selling shares. Long-term success of the business wasn't the goal. Unfortunately, I have to agree. However, I think Kiyosaki is a bit too obsessed with building a company for the sake of selling it to other investors. He calls people selling shares of publicly traded companies to investors the "Ultimate Investors." There is a question of ethics in selling retail investors shares of dubious, new companies. (Although, I have no problem with those selling ownership to get capital to grow a viable business.) Also, only the smallest number of companies ever go public. The book might better be titled "Rich Dad's Guide To Entrepreneurship and Investing," because there is some good discussion about building a business. Kiyosaki says, to be successful in business, you should learn: communication skills, leadership, team-building skills, tax laws, corporate law, and securities law. Of course, investors should know how to read financial statements. Most crucial is overcoming a fear of failure and learning sales skills. Public speaking is important, because to lead you must speak. Kiyosaki, himself, says he wasn't a natural speaker. But, he worked on it. He says financially successful people find their weaknesses and work to make them strengths. Less financially successful people ignore their weaknesses and only try to build upon their strengths. They specialize. Kiyosaki says that building wealth should be based upon simple, not complex, strategies. When not building his own companies, he likes investing in small companies with market capitalizations under $25 million. The graph on Page 221, showing the relative returns by market capitalization, is pretty amazing. From the graph, we can estimate the return of investing in companies of market capitalization less than $25 million is about 28%, compared to 12% for the S&P 500 over the same 45-year period. Of course, as Kiyosaki acknowledges, there are far more bad deals than good deals with ultra-small companies. So, you must know what you are doing to try to buy them. All in all, "Rich Dad's Guide To Investing" is a good read, and I recommend it. Peter Hupalo
Author of
Thinking Like An Entrepreneur
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent "How To" book.
Review: Excellent "How To" book for those who really want to know the truth about getting wealthy. Except the "how to" is different than what most would expect. It is not a 12 step plan to get rich. Here is what I got from the book. First if you have not read "Rich Dad Poor Dad" and "Cash Flow Quadrant" you should read those two first. This book builds on the foundations and structures the other two establish. Finally the meat of the matter. RK shows very clearly that wealth is obtained first in the mind by becoming financially literate. That is the entire thrust. Time in educating yourself in financial matters such as reading and extracting information and analyzing information from financial statements is a key factor in the path to wealth. He feels gaining some knowledge in every area of business is essential such as tax law and accounting etc. If a person does not do these things, this book cannot help. Bottom line, your mind has to think in terms of financial statements if you want to be wealthy. The "how to" that many of those who reviewed this and the other two books and feel that they were not given any "how to" instruction was either missed or wasn't the answer they wanted. The "how to" is financial and business literacy. It means taking accounting and other courses and reading many many books on this subject matter and finding people who know more than you do about these matters and picking their brains! The last few chapters go into the different worlds of investing such as real estate and IPO's where the real wealth seems to be and gives some guidelines of what would be expected of you to enter these areas.
Rating:
Summary: After reading his third book, you're ready for his website
Review: I am a big fan of RK so take this with a grain of salt if you hate the guys guts. First off, I've been studying money books for almost two years. Most of them were for the middle class which told you to play it safe and diversify. Answers were little and fear was great. Basically, if you had a lot of time, you could at least retire adequately from those books. So then I found RK last May and what a change! This was exactly what I was looking for: not people who couldn't walk the talk but people who had done it and done it well. Understand that RK and his wife lost most of their money and had to live with a friend (it's in their second or third book) but there's no shame in this per se as some people feel. This guy is basically telling you about his mistakes, at the risk of being attacked, and letting you avoid them. I've played CASHFLOW 101 about 30 times and moved on to 202 and have played it about a dozen times now. THe group I am with is positive and training their minds to see the invisible. One guy has already started to do r/e deals in Calif and while he is still looking around in a tough market like the Bay Area, he's moving along. RK's books are really about opening your mind to the possibilities as cliche' as it sounds. Once you decide to specialize in a particular investment vehicle (i.e. real estate, MLMS, stocks, etc), you will need to get the information from other sources. In RDGTI, RK covers how he got started in investing. Now, some of this information will be out of your league unless you want to become a big time rich person but the most important thing is learning how he thinks. When you know he thinks, that will help you even more so in your future investments. The important things RK's books do is give you smidgens of various fin. vehicles and, more importantly, teaches you to believe that the possibilities are out there. Let me stress that again: the possibilities ARE out there. The problem is: most Americans have trained their mind to believe there are very few and they cannot get them so they repeat this vicious circle. That's the biggest problem I've noticed since training my mind and learning. You've got to believe and you have to start seeing the possibilities: or, seeing the invisible as RK calls it. Once you start doing that, you're on your way. After this book, check out his audio casette series RICH DAD'S GUIDE TO FINANCIAL LITERACY (advanced) or YOUR FIRST STEPS. You can also check him out at RICHDAD.COM . . .or, you can get these items for less at ebay or your public library or half.com The important thing isn't so much as where you get it but that you use it, learn it and apply it. REVISION NOTE AS OF 09/05/03: I am at a loss for words as to why the RK books are getting slammed on Amazon. These are the books I started with two years ago, which inspired me to be more and never work a day job again. Since then, I won't say I haven't lost money but I've made more money and things are only looking up. Additionally, I've gotten involved with a group of other investors, who were all inspired by those books. In fact, if it wasn't for the RK books, I and my other colleagues wouldn't be on our ways to financial freedom. So, when people slam RK and tell me it doesn't work, I just shake my head and realize that these are people who are living in their delussions. Everyday I'm surrounded by people who have accepted their financial cages and think things are too good to be true. Until they change their perceptions of abundance and money, they will forever be constricted. I used to think like that and had a dead end day job. Now, I'm making more than ever and, in less than five years, I plan to be financially free. Good luck to those who keep an open mind.
Rating:
Summary: information
Review: Who else would provide this kind of information to help others out? A wonderful book that explains exactly where the money is. It's like following a recipe for wealth. Any idiot could do well if they just take the advise of this book.
Rating: 
Summary: If you have absolutely no direction
Review: This books seems geared to those individuals whom have not a clue what direction they are going in, financially. To me it is more a motivational than a how to book. The ideas are general and vauge at times. His stories on the advice his Rich Dad gave him are interesting at times and do lend some insight into the general concepts of what rich people do to become rich. If you are looking for specific investing advice I belive you should spend your money elswhere, because you're not going to get such advice here. This book did get me more interested in being on the business side of the " cashflow quadrant" and more interested in learning more. The less you know about building businesses the more helpful this book will be.
Rating:
Summary: Great book about the philosophy of investing.
Review: If you are looking for a book detailing what to invest in, this is not for you. It is for anyone who wants to explore investing in a more detailed, higher level than the normal investing advice people look for "invest in X and make money".
Rating:
Summary: If You Liked Rich Dad, Poor Dad, this Book Helps Apply It
Review: I recommend that you read both "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" and "Cash Flow Quadrant" before reading this book. That will ensure that you understand Mr. Kiyosaki's key concepts and are emotionally committed to them. You'll need that grounding to begin to apply them well! As in Rich Dad, Poor Dad, this book has the delightful story line of advice from the father of a friend who became a very wealthy man before his death -- leaving his family well set financially for 100 years! I think it's that base in reality that makes these books so interesting. One of the best ways to learn is to have a successful mentor who will guide us through the key challenges of getting started. This book is designed to duplicate the experiences that the author had his his rich Dad. For example, the key questions that rich Dad asked him are at the end of each section for you to answer for yourself. I found my answers to be revealing, even though I have been through a lot of similar sets of questions. Well done! The story line picks up after the author is coming out of the Marines in his twenties to find his boyhood friend already wealthy from his own efforts. The financial advice parts of the book are tied into helping you pick up a meaningful financial plan. You begin by deciding what you want money to do for you. That's an excellent thing to do. Some want security. Some want more income. Others want substantial wealth that keeps growing. You should decide. Some books make the mistake of pushing you to choose a goal that really isn't what you want. Rather than push you in a particular direction, the book emphasizes key principles (compound cash tax-free, create assets with your mind as well as with your money). The author notes that each of us has preferences that will take us in different directions for implementing whatever our goals are. I liked that approach a lot. You will recognize a lot of the diagrams from Rich Dad, Poor Dad. But it is good advice, so it doesn't hurt to have the repetition. This part is fairly compact, so you can skim through it if you feel confident about the material. This book would be outstanding as a gift for someone who is about to graduate from school and starting a first job, or for newly wedded people. It would be even more valuable if you would be a mentor for the person you give it to, like one of your children or grandchildren. If you get to be good at this now, think how great it would be to be the rich Dad for your children and their friends. Now that's an irresistibly great goal! Enjoy the riches you would like to have, for the reasons you would like to have them! Remember, the sooner you finish these tasks, the sooner you can turn your attention to the other aspects of your life you want to improve. May your life be filled with much health, happiness, peace . . . and prosperity.
Rating: 
Summary: Invest in Kiyosaki's Royalty Icome Stream
Review: Pure Gibberish. Far too vague to be helpful. No "how to" advice, just vague cheerleading. May be useful for a reader who wants to feel good about the idea of investing without actually investing.
Rating:
Summary: Don't read this yet!!
Review: Have you already read "Rich Dad, Poor Dad," and "Cash Flow Quadrant"? If not, read both of Robert's other books first. Those books both really get his points across clearly and succinctly. I couldn't get enough, so I picked up "Rich Dad's Guide To Investing." Its a little different from the first two books because this one really tells you what to do with your money after you already have it! Also, check out richdad.com. The website has some great message boards.
Rating:
Summary: Get rich intelligently, not "quickly"
Review: Rich Dad's Guide to Investing is the third installment in Robert Kiyosaki's best-selling series of financial advice books. The first in the series, Rich Dad, Poor Dad was structured around the story of how Kiyosaki grew up in a family with a father who was a highly-paid official in the Hawai'i school system but who, no matter how much money he made, never seemed to be able to get ahead in his financial life. His advice to Kiyosaki was "Go to school, get good grades, get a good, secure job." Then when Kiyosaki was nine, he adopted a second dad, the now infamous "Rich Dad", the father of his best friend Mike. Rich Dad (who's name is never given in the books) came from a background that was very financially poor, but went on to become one of the wealthiest men in Hawai'i, building business after business and retaining his wealth through his own philosophy of money management. Rich Dad, Poor Dad chronicled and expounded on Rich Dad's advice to Kiyosaki, which could be summarized as: "Don't ever work for money. Make the money work for you. Only hold a job to gain skills, not to make a living. There is a surfeit of opportunity in the world- but you have to go to it, because it won't come to you. Create wealth." Kiyosaki took Rich Dad's advice to heart and went on to make several fortunes of his own. The second Rich Dad book, The Cashflow Quadrant, was a discussion of the four different approaches to making money- as an employee, as a self-employed professional, as a business-owner and as an investor. Poor Dad valued security, and encouraged Kiyosaki to become a high-paid employee, like himself. But Rich Dad argued that the road to wealth and security lead away from the employee/self-employed half of the "Cashflow Quadrant" and into the business-owner/investor side, where a person can control his own future and financial destiny. Whereas Rich Dad, Poor Dad gave an overview of Rich Dad's financial philosophy, The Cashflow Quadrant detailed a crucial part of it- the argument that only through financial literacy and an understanding of the flow of wealth in the world can a person become wealth himself. Now comes Rich Dad's Guide to Investing. Although the title might lead some readers to believe that it's a guide to the world of IPOs-and-technology-stocks, it's really an even more in depth look at the world of the businessman and long-term investor, a more hands-on continuation of Cashflow Quadrant. In fact, the whole second half of the book is devoted to strategies for developing and profiting from your own business, which Kiyosaki calls "investing from the inside." IPOs are discussed in the last few chapters- but Kiyosaki is talking about how to do your own IPO. Like it's predecessors in the series, this book suffers from a rambling and folksy pop-finance style that can sometimes detract from the content of the book. But stylistic considerations aside, the series stands head and shoulders above similarly themed books. Rich Dad's Guide to Investing is no get rich quick guide. Rather, it's a practical blueprint for building wealth even in you are starting out with very little free cash. But that's not to say that it's "no money down". In fact, the strategies outlined here require more than just money- they also require sizable amounts of time. But the Kiyosaki makes the tradeoff in time seem worth it, considering that the alternative he presents is a lifetime of financial constraint. I especially like Kiyosaki's suggestions for planning and executing three separate tracks of investment: investment for security, investment for comfort and investment for wealth. His pyramid approach to business management was also very interesting. Overall, this book isn't as inspiring as Rich Dad, Poor Dad, but it has much more how-to-do-it nitty-gritty type information, which I appreciated a lot. Highly recommended.
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