Rich Dad Poor Dad

Rich Dad Poor Dad

It was 1956 in Hilo, Hawaii, and nine-year-old Robert Kiyosaki had a problem. He wanted to be rich. His best friend Mike had the same ambition. Neither of them had any idea how to do it, so they went to ask the only rich person they knew: Mike's father.

Mike's dad ran a chain of businesses across the island. He had not finished eighth grade. He spoke with a heavy accent. He drove a battered truck and lived simply. But he owned warehouses, a construction company, and more real estate than anyone Robert knew. He agreed to teach the boys -- but not in the way they expected. He did not sit them down and explain compound interest. He did not hand them books or draw diagrams. He gave them a job at one of his convenience stores for ten cents an hour, sorting cans and sweeping floors. Then he stopped paying them entirely.

Robert was furious. He had a father at home who held a PhD and was climbing the ranks of Hawaii's Department of Education. His Poor Dad told him to study hard, get good grades, and find a secure job with a pension. His Poor Dad believed in the paycheck. Robert had watched him work for thirty years and still struggle with money. Now the other father was making him work for free.

When Robert finally marched in and demanded an explanation, Rich Dad smiled. That anger, he said, was Robert's biggest asset. Most people let the fear of not having money control them their entire lives. Most people work all month and then hand that paycheck straight back out -- to rent, to bills, to taxes, to the next thing they want. They spend their lives reacting to money instead of learning how to use it. The job with the ten-cent wage was not the lesson. The lesson was the feeling of sitting there, broke and frustrated, and choosing what to think next.