Most people learn about money from their parents, and then rarely question it. Robert Kiyosaki had two sources: his own highly educated father, and the father of his best friend, who left school early and became wealthy. They gave him opposite advice, and he spent his life comparing the results.
In Rich Dad Poor Dad, he turns those lessons into a short list about how the rich think about money, work and assets. This guide condenses the book into twelve ideas, with the stories that carry them and the caveats a fair reader would add. It closes with a one-page summary, two worksheets and a cheat sheet. It is not financial advice.
1 Two fathers, two ways of thinking about money
Robert Kiyosaki frames the book around two father figures. His own father, whom he calls poor dad, was highly educated and worked hard, yet struggled financially all his life. The father of his best friend Mike, whom he calls rich dad, never finished the eighth grade and became one of the wealthiest men in Hawaii.
2 The rich don't work for money
Kiyosaki's first lesson begins when he was 9 years old. He and Mike asked rich dad to teach them how to make money. Rich dad put them to work in one of his convenience stores for 10 cents an hour, three hours every Saturday. Even by 1956 standards, Kiyosaki notes, that was very low pay.
3 See the opportunity others miss
The boys found their first real opportunity at the store. They noticed that the manager tore the covers off unsold comic books, sent the covers back for credit, and threw the rest away. They asked if they could have the discarded comics, and he agreed, as long as they did not resell them.
4 Know the difference between an asset and a liability
Kiyosaki's second lesson is financial literacy. He calls accounting possibly the most boring subject in the world, but also, for anyone who wants to be rich, possibly the most important. So he reduces it to one rule: you must know the difference between an asset and a liability, and buy assets.
5 Your house may not be the asset you think
Kiyosaki's most debated claim follows from his definitions. Poor dad believed his home was his largest investment and greatest asset. Rich dad believed his house was a liability, and said that if your house is your largest investment, you are in trouble.
6 Mind your own business
Kiyosaki's third lesson opens with a story he heard from a friend, Keith Cunningham. In 1974, the founder of McDonald's, Ray Kroc, spoke to an MBA class in Texas and then joined students for beers. He asked them what business he was in. They laughed and said hamburgers.
7 Learn how taxes and corporations work
The fourth lesson is about taxes and what Kiyosaki calls the power of corporations. He says rich dad saw Robin Hood not as a hero but as a crook, and argued that the idea of taxing the rich to help the poor ends up landing hardest on the middle class.
8 Self-doubt holds people back more than lack of skill
The fifth lesson, which Kiyosaki calls the rich invent money, begins with two television stories. One was about Alexander Graham Bell, who offered to sell his telephone patent and company to Western Union for $100,000 and was turned down. The other was about a laid-off manager pleading at the factory gate.
9 Work to learn, not just to earn
The sixth lesson begins in Singapore in 1995. A young newspaper reporter told Kiyosaki she dreamed of being a best-selling author, though her novels were going nowhere. He suggested a sales training course. She was offended and asked whether he meant she should learn to sell.
10 Overcome fear, cynicism, laziness, bad habits and arrogance
In a chapter on obstacles, Kiyosaki names five reasons why financially literate people still fail to build assets: fear, cynicism, laziness, bad habits and arrogance. He takes each in turn and offers a way to work against it.
11 Pay yourself first, and let assets buy luxuries
Kiyosaki closes with ten steps for getting started. One is pay yourself first, which he calls the power of self-discipline. Put money into your asset column before you pay your bills, and let the pressure of the bills push you to find ways to earn more.
12 Financial education starts with the questions you ask
Throughout the book, Kiyosaki returns to education. He argues schools teach people to work for money but rarely teach how money works. Poor dad valued academic credentials. Rich dad valued financial literacy, and Kiyosaki credits that difference for how their lives turned out.
Rich Dad Poor Dad in short
Rich Dad Poor Dad is a book about mindset more than method. Robert Kiyosaki contrasts two father figures to show how habits of thought about money shape a life. One worked for money and valued a safe job. The other had money work for him and valued financial literacy.
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