Rich Dad Poor Dad
| Original Title: | Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! |
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| Written by: | Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon L. Lechter |
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| First published: | 1997 |
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Rich Dad, Poor Dad is one of the dumbest financial advice books I have ever read. It contains many factual errors and numerous extremely unlikely accounts of events that supposedly occurred.
—John T. Reed, John T. Reed's analysis of Robert T. Kiyosaki's book Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Part 1 (emphasis in original)
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A bestselling book by Robert Kiyosaki, which according to him, contains all secrets of the success of rich people.
The title comes from the (supposedly authentic) Robert's childhood experiences, and how he had two dads (no, not that kind): A "poor dad", who was his biological father, a teacher who broke his back working his whole life and died poor, and a "rich dad", who was his best friend's father and a shrewd businessman who owned several stores, a construction company and restaurants in addition of teaching him everything he knows about how to become rich.
Tropes used in Rich Dad Poor Dad include:
- Based on a Great Big Lie: See Very Loosely Based on a True Story.
- Dan Browned: In the book, Robert claims to be a very successful real estate broker, yet many experts in the field have pointed out that the cases presented are either very unlikely, impossible to happen in Real Life or even outright illegal (for example, his recommendation to practice insider trading). There's even a page dedicated to debunk his cases.
- The stories that were used, could be done with caution. There are going to be people who are against anything that's immensely popular. He had a talk with Donald Trump in one of his books about people not believing him because he had to protect privacy.
- Step Three: Profit
- Trickster Mentor: The "rich dad", when after Robert and Mike ask him about how to make money, he hires them as helpers in his shop and makes them work long hours while paying them a pittance. When Robert and Mike get fed up with this and tell him that he is wasting their time, the "rich dad" congratulates them for the first lesson learned.
- Very Loosely Based on a True Story: Robert has never revealed the identity of his "rich dad", other than saying that he was his childhood's best friend father, which is odd considering how prominently he features in the book; He has zigzagged between saying that he is a real person, a composite of several people and "Is Harry Potter real?"
- Young Entrepreneur: Robert and Mike start a comic book rental business after learning the first lesson of the "rich dad".