RICH DAD POOR DAD

Learn about financial education from this book. How to prepare income statement and balance sheet. If Cashflow management is the problem even if you increase your income still will not solve the financial problems

I had two fathers, a rich one and a poor one. One was highly

educated and intelligent. He had a Ph.D. and completed four years

of undergraduate work in less than two years. He then went on to

Stanford University, the University of Chicago, and Northwestern

University to do his advanced studies, all on full financial scholarships.

The other father never finished the eighth grade.

Both men were successful in their careers, working hard all their

lives. Both earned substantial incomes. Yet one always struggled

financially. The other would become one of the richest men in Hawaii.

One died leaving tens of millions of dollars to his family, charities, and

his church. The other left bills to be paid.

Both men were strong, charismatic, and influential. Both men

offered me advice, but they did not advise the same things. Both men

believed strongly in education but did not recommend the same course

of study.

If I had had only one dad, I would have had to accept or reject his

advice. Having two dads offered me the choice of contrasting points

of view: one of a rich man and one of a poor man.

Instead of simply accepting or rejecting one or the other, I found

myself thinking more, comparing, and then choosing for myself. The

problem was that the rich man was not rich yet, and the poor man

Introduction

2

was not yet poor. Both were just starting out on their careers, and

both were struggling with money and families. But they had very

different points of view about money.

For example, one dad would say, “The love of money is the root

of all evil.” The other said, “The lack of money is the root of all evil.”

As a young boy, having two strong fathers both influencing me

was difficult. I wanted to be a good son and listen, but the two fathers

did not say the same things. The contrast in their points of view,

particularly about money, was so extreme that I grew curious and

intrigued. I began to start thinking for long periods of time about

what each was saying.

Much of my private time was spent reflecting, asking myself

questions such as, “Why does he say that?” and then asking the same

question of the other dad’s statement. It would have been much

easier to simply say, “Yeah, he’s right. I agree with that.” Or to simply

reject the point of view by saying, “The old man doesn’t know what

he’s talking about.” Instead, having two dads whom I loved forced

me to think and ultimately choose a way of thinking for myself. As a

process, choosing for myself turned out to be much more valuable in

the long run than simply accepting or rejecting a single point of view.

One of the reasons the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and

the middle class struggles in debt is that the subject of money is

taught at home, not in school. Most of us learn about money from

our parents. So what can poor parents tell their child about money?

They simply say, “Stay in school and study hard.” The child may

graduate with excellent grades, but with a poor person’s financial

programming and mindset.

Sadly, money is not taught in schools. Schools focus on scholastic

and professional skills, but not on financial skills. This explains how

smart bankers, doctors, and accountants who earned excellent grades

may struggle financially all of their lives. Our staggering national debt

is due in large part to highly educated politicians and government

officials making financial decisions with little or no training in the

subject of money.