Books by Robert T. Kiyosaki
Rich Dad Poor Dad is the Robert T. Kiyosaki book in our library. It is the book most people in this list read first, and the one most argued with. Its central move is a redefinition: an asset is something that puts money in your pocket, everything else is a liability regardless of what it is called.
That reframe is why the book survives its own weaknesses. Most people can name what they own and cannot say which of it pays them. The illustrative stories are the part to hold loosely; the question about whether the things you own are feeding you or costing you is what the book is worth reading for.
How to read it. A good entry point for someone who has never read any personal finance at all, followed by The Millionaire Next Door, which reaches a different conclusion about what wealth looks like.
It sits in the Personal Finance bundle as the entry point of the set and the one most often argued with. Its reframe has proved more durable than the stories used to illustrate it.
The book
Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!
Robert T. KiyosakiThe asset and liability reframe. The useful part is the question it forces about whether something you own is paying you or costing you, which is asked far less often than it should be. Read the stories as illustration rather than as evidence.
What it argues- An asset puts money in your pocket; everything else is a liability whatever it is called.
- A house you live in costs you money, which is a distinction most people never make.
- Income from a job ends when the job does, which is the risk the book is about.
- Buying assets before buying lifestyle is the practical instruction.
- The illustrative stories are not evidence, and the book is often criticised for that.
Suited to a first-time reader of personal finance with no framework at all, and to anyone who owns things without knowing which of them pay. Read it before the other four in this bundle, then read them as corrections.
Where to start
Read the chapters on assets and liabilities first and take the question rather than the stories. Then read The Millionaire Next Door, which measures what rich households actually look like and does not fit this book as neatly as people assume. The test worth applying is simple: list what you own and write down which of it pays you, because that question survives every criticism of the book.
Where this fits
This is the entry point of the personal finance shelf and the most argued with. The Millionaire Next Door supplies measured evidence that contradicts its picture, The Psychology of Money supplies the behaviour, and Money: Master the Game supplies the mechanics. Read it first for the reframe, and read the others as the corrections they were partly written to be.
The rest of this shelf
The Personal Finance shelf holds 5 books in total. These are the others, each condensed into a guide you can finish in about 15 minutes:
- The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness by Morgan Housel
- Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
- The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko
- Money: Master the Game: 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom by Tony Robbins
Ask what is paying you, plus four
Rich Dad Poor Dad is in the Personal Finance bundle with The Psychology of Money, Think and Grow Rich, The Millionaire Next Door and Money: Master the Game.
Five complete guides, about 15 minutes each.
Explore Personal FinanceAn asset pays you. Everything else is a cost.