Rich Dad Poor Dad - Introduction/Chapter One

Introduction:

Having been raised by two fathers, he has been taught to strive for two different goals. His educated dad advised him to work for a corporation. His rich dad advised him to own the corporation. Both life required education, but the subjects of study were different. His educated dad encouraged Robert to be a smart person. His rich dad encouraged Robert to know how to hire smart people.

Chapter One:

I had two fathers, a rich one and a poor one. One was highly educated and intelligent, he had a PhD and completed 4 years of undergraduate wok 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 scholarship. The other father never finished the eighth grade.

Both men where successful in their careers, working hard all their lives. Both earned substantial income. Yet one struggled financially all his life. The other would become one of the richest men in Hawaii. One died leaving tens of millions of dollars to his family, charity 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 advice the same thing. Both men believed strongly in education but did not recommend the same course of study.

The problem was the rich dad was not rich yet and the poor dad was not poor yet. Both were just starting out on their careers, and both were struggling with money and families. Both had different point of view about the subject of money.

For example one would say “the love of money is the root of all evil” the other “the lack of money is the root of all evil”. One dad had a habit of saying, “I cannot afford it” the other dad forbade those words to be used. He insisted you say, “How can I afford it?” One is a question, the other is a statement. One lets you off the hook, and the other forces you to think.

My soon-to-be rich dad would explain that by automatically saying the words “I cannot afford it”, your brain stops working. By asking the question “How can I afford it?” your brain is put to work. He did not mean buy everything you want. He was fanatical about exercising your mind, the most powerful computer in the world.

Although both dad worked had, I noticed that one dad had the habit of putting his brain to sleep when it comes to money matters, while the other had the habit of expressing his brain. The long-term result was that one dad grew stronger financially and the other grew weaker.

Proper physical exercise increases your chances for health, proper mental exercise increase your chances for wealth.

One encouraged talking about money and business at the dinner table, the other forbade the subject of money to be discussed over a meal.

One said “when it comes to money, play hot safe, do not take risks”, the other said “lean to manage risk”.

One believed, “our home is our largest investment, and our greatest asset”. The other believed, my house is a liability, and if your house is your largest investment you are in trouble.

One believed in the company or government taking care of you and your needs. He was always concerned about pay raises, retirement plans, medical benefits, sick leaves, vacation day and other perks 

The other believed in total financial self-reliance. He spoke out against the “entitlement” mentality and how it was creating weak and financially needy people. He was emphatic about being financial competent.

One dad struggled to save a few dollars, the other simply created investments.

Being a product of two strong dads allowed me the luxury of observing the effects the different thoughts have on one’s life. I noticed that people really do shape their life through their thoughts.

One dad wanted me to work hard, earn a degree and get a good job to work for money. The other encouraged me to study to be rich, to understand how money works, and lean how to have it work for me.

At age 9, I decided to listen to and learn from my rich dad about money. In doing so, I chose not to listen to my poor dad, even though he was the one with the college degrees

 

Robert T. Kiyosaki

 

Up Next:

Chapter Two