Which book is the best in the Rich Dad Poor Dad series?

In the past month, I finished reading 9 books in the "Rich Dad" series, including "Rich Dad Poor Dad," "The Richest Man in Babylon," "Rich Dad's Guide to Financial Freedom," "Rich Dad's Cashflow Quadrant," "Rich Dad's Guide to Investing," "Rich Dad's Rich Kid, Smart Kid," "Rich Woman," "Unfair Advantage," and "6 Lessons for Wealth Building." After reading all of these books, I feel that I have some authority to speak about this book series.

First, let's talk about the author of the Rich Dad series.

Robert T. Kiyosaki, or the owner of the "Rich Dad" brand. He was born and raised in Hawaii as a fourth-generation Japanese-American. His father was the superintendent of education for the State of Hawaii. According to his introduction, he graduated from college and worked as a sailor (third mate) for an oil company. Later, he joined the US Marine Corps and fought in the Vietnam War, which became one of his calling cards. After returning from the battlefield, he decided to start a business and become wealthy. To do so, he went to work as a salesperson at Xerox, received systematic training, and became a sales champion (his sales ability improved greatly).

Then he started his own business, earned over 1 million dollars, and later went bankrupt. He then achieved financial freedom by investing in real estate, and wrote "Rich Dad Poor Dad," which unexpectedly became a best-selling author. He appeared on Oprah Winfrey's talk show, making him even more famous. He also met Donald Trump (who is now the President of the United States but wasn't at the time) and collaborated on a book together. They also worked together on real estate projects. Kiyosaki is very astute in business, has a sense of branding, and has focused on the future education market, creating an international education company. Now he has built "Rich Dad" into a well-known brand in the field of financial education.

Secondly, let's talk about the Rich Dad book series.

The quality of each book is uneven. Generally speaking, the earlier books have more substance, and later books repeat the same concepts too much. If you just read one book, it might be fine, but if you read all of them, they tend to be repetitive and verbose. One netizen summarized it by saying, "Robert's biggest success is writing the Rich Dad series of books and making more money than real estate." Isn't real estate lucrative enough? Since "Rich Dad Poor Dad" became popular, Kiyosaki has not stopped publishing books. Even his wife has started publishing books to make money, and even Donald Trump endorsed their work.

Robert T. Kiyosaki's book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" was published in the United States in April 1999, and set a record of selling one million copies in six months. In February 2000, it topped the list of hundreds of books sold on Amazon's online bookstore. On November 15, 2010, the "2010 Fifth China Writer Rich List" foreign writer rich list was released for the first time. The list counted the total royalties of foreign writers in mainland China between 2000 and 2010. A total of 25 foreign writers were on the list. Robert T. Kiyosaki ranked 13th with a royalty income of RMB 4.5 million, which attracted widespread attention.

His books have been translated into versions in many languages around the world, bringing him continuous income.Once again amazed by "Robert's greatest success is writing the Rich Dad series of books and earning more money than real estate."

Finally, which books in the Rich Dad series are worth reading, and which are not?

Book 1: Rich Dad Poor Dad

Author: Robert T. Kiyosaki and Sharon L. Lechter

Rating: ★★★★★

This book is about improving financial intelligence, and it has changed my view on wealth and money. For most people, it's a "brutal story." With the author's guidance, experience the education from two dads.

The most important lesson in this book is that the rich acquire assets, while the poor and middle class acquire liabilities. Assets are things that put money in your pocket, while liabilities take money out of your pocket.

It warns you to avoid the biggest trap in life - the "rat race". As Rich Dad said, "Most people want a paycheck because they have fear and greed. At first, the fear of being without money motivates us to work hard and then, once we get that paycheck, greed or desire starts us thinking about all the wonderful things money can buy. The pattern is then set."

"What pattern?" I asked.

"Get up, go to work, pay bills, repeat. Their lives are then run forever by two emotions, fear and greed. Offer them more money and they continue the cycle by increasing their spending. This is what I call the ‘Rat Race.’"

Book 2: Rich Dad's Guide to Financial Freedom

Author: Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon L. Lechter

Rating: ★★★★★

This book should be translated as "Rich Dad's Guide to Financial Freedom: Cashflow Quadrant". The author reveals the secret to financial freedom through the magical CASHFLOW Quadrant. It's a long book, with the first five chapters being the essence of the book, and the later two parts being mediocre, giving the impression of being written to increase the number of words. However, that doesn't stop me from giving this book a 5-star recommendation!

What is the CASHFLOW Quadrant?

E stands for Employee, B stands for Business owner, S stands for Self-employed, and I stands for Investor.

My poor dad advised me to be a high-paying employee or a high-paying self-employed person, such as a doctor, lawyer, or accountant. He valued stable salaries, various benefits, and job security, which led him to become a high-ranking government official - the superintendent of Hawaii's Department of Education.

In contrast, my rich dad, who had less education, had a completely different view: "Go to school, graduate, start a business, be a successful investor."

The most important thing in this book is the secret to financial freedom: Change your source of income from being an employee (E) or self-employed (S) to being a business owner (B) or investor (I).

Book 3. The Richest Man in Babylon

Author: George S. Clason

Rating: ★★★★

In ancient Babylon, you could use yourself as collateral, and if you couldn't pay back the money, you would become a slave. If you are interested in improving your financial situation, then I recommend reading this book. How to solve debt problems? How to get rich? How to handle borrowing money? There are some good answers here.

Although this is a good book, it has nothing to do with Robert T. Kiyosaki. He added "The Richest Man in Babylon" to his brand image of focusing on financial intelligence improvement for the "Rich Dad" series of books. The earliest English version of this long-standing book, which I found on Amazon, dates back to 1672. It seems that due to copyright expiration, it has been translated into many versions.

Book 4: Rich Dad's Retire Young Retire Rich

Author: Sharon L. Lechter and Robert T. Kiyosaki

Rating: ★★★★★

The purpose of the "Rich Dad" series of books is to tell you how to get rich. The focus of this book is on unlocking the power of the mind! "Your thoughts and language will inevitably become your reality. If you think it's impossible, then it's impossible." If you understand it as a "chicken soup book", it can also be, but this "chicken soup book" is really well written. Please allow me to brag here, "I believe I can achieve financial freedom in the next 10 years." This sentence is placed here first.

The focus of this book is on unlocking the power of the mind!

Poor people's thinking is rigid and imprisoned. This book focuses on "lifting the restrictions on the poor and unlocking their mental power."

Just like many people said to the Wright Brothers, "Humans can never fly." To Columbus, "Didn't you see that the earth is flat?" People always think their own views are correct.

So many people say "humans can never fly" because the idea of human flight exceeds the imagination of most people at that time.

"When I started my business, I understood that I might fail. I thought I might not succeed, and I knew I had to start with failure."

In the final analysis, the main difference between Rich Dad and Poor Dad is that they each have different perceptions of reality. A person who is willing to constantly expand their reality will say, even if they cannot afford it at the time, "How can I afford that beachfront property?" While another person chooses to say, "I can't afford it."

In summary, the core idea of this book can be summed up in one sentence - "Your thoughts and language will inevitably become your reality. If you think it's impossible, then it's impossible."

Book 5: Women Must Have Money

Author: Rich Dad's Wife, Kim Kiyosaki

Rating: ★★★

This is an investment and finance motivational book specifically written for women. The book is written by Kim Kiyosaki, the wife of the author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki. The whole book tells the story of her and her girlfriend's financial journey, and the writing style is indeed more suitable for female readers. A quick glance from a steel-straight man reveals the following content.

Why do women need to have money? What about men?

"Rich people are rule makers." In my opinion, rich people can command others to do this and that. Therefore, I have long decided to become a rule-maker instead of being bossed around by others.

Women's freedom depends on financial freedom first.

Women must learn to invest to ensure their own and their children's safety.

Many people say that money is not the most important thing in life. Perhaps this is true. But money does affect every important thing in your life - your health, your education, and your quality of life. Money can bring you either bondage or freedom! It can bind you to your work, debt, and sometimes even your relationship with your partner; on the other hand, money can also bring you freedom, allowing you to choose the life you want.

These are some of the reasons I picked out from the book. In short, women need financial freedom to have real freedom.

Six Powerful Reasons Why Women Should Become Investors:

Reason 1: According to statistics, more and more women, especially when they are older, have not learned or prepared to take care of themselves financially. We have been taking care of our families all our lives, but at the critical moment, we suddenly realize that we have no ability to take care of ourselves.

Reason 2: Avoid dependence. Ladies, if you rely on your husband, boss, or anyone else financially, think twice! Who knows when they might not be there anymore. We always realize how much we depend on others when we have to face life alone.

Reason 3: No glass ceiling. Many obstacles for women in large companies are called the "glass ceiling." The glass ceiling means that due to gender reasons, women's positions in the company can only go up to a certain level. In the investment world, there are no restrictions or ceilings for women - whether it is glass or any other.

In the investment world, nobody cares if you are a man or a woman, black or white, college graduate or high school dropout. The market only cares about how wise you are in making money. Education and experience are key. The smarter you are in investing, the more successful you will be as an investor.

Reason 4: Unlimited income. Studies have shown that female colleagues with similar education and experience as male colleagues earn about 74% of their income. But in the investment world, there are no limits to making money. As an investor, you can decide how much money you want to make.

Reason 5: Enhance self-esteem. A woman's self-esteem is related to her ability to support herself, and this is an old saying. Depending on others financially will lower a woman's sense of self-worth. If money is not a problem, you can certainly do things you couldn't do before.

Reason 6: Freedom of time, self-control of time. One of the biggest problems women often (usually more than men) encounter in investing is time, especially for mothers who need to spend a lot of time taking care of their children.

As an investor, you can control your own time: you can do it part-time or full-time; you can do it at home, in the office, or anywhere.

Book 6: Six Things Rich Dad Says You Must Do to Get Rich

Author: Robert Kiyosaki

Rating: ★★

This book is really mediocre, and it makes me doubt and confirm that the purpose of this book is to make money. But the rating is surprisingly high, reaching 7.6 points, which is unbelievable. If you only read this book alone, it may be okay. But if you look at the whole Rich Dad's series, there is too much repetition in this book. To sum up with a netizen's words: "Robert's biggest success is writing the Rich Dad series of books, earning more money than real estate."

Six Things You Must Do to Get Rich:

1. prepare yourself to work hard for financial freedom.

2. don't be afraid of making mistakes, but learn from them.

3. educate yourself according to the rules of the information age.

4. learn to make money with benign debt.

5. eliminate bad debt as soon as possible.

6. have the courage to change your cash flow quadrant.

It cannot be denied that the Rich Dad series of books has a positive influence on beginners who want to learn about managing their finances. However, you have to read the books and understand the lessons on your own. There is a proper method for reading, so don't blindly believe everything you read.

Reading is a way to communicate with the author across time and space. Approach it with a critical mindset and ask questions, instead of just trying to memorize everything. Take the essence and use it for yourself while discarding the rest.