Robert Toru Kiyosaki (born April 8, 1947) is an investor, businessman, and self-help author. He is married to Kim Kiyosaki. He was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii and is a fourth-generation Japanese-American.

Kiyosaki is best known for his "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" series of motivational books and other material. He has written 18 books which combined have sold over 26 million copies [1]. Although beginning as a self publisher, he is now published by Warner Books, a division of Hachette Book Group USA. Three of his books, Rich Dad Poor Dad, Rich Dad's CASHFLOW Quadrant, and Rich Dad's Guide to Investing, have been on the top 10 best-seller lists simultaneously on The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and the New York Times. The book "Rich Kid Smart Kid" was published in 2001, with the intent to help parents teach their children financial concepts. He has created three "Cashflow" board games for adults and children and has a series of "Rich Dad" audio cassettes. He also publishes a monthly newsletter and gives motivational talks around the world. [2] [3]

Robert Kiyosaki's Teachings

A large part of Kiyosaki's teachings focus on generating passive income by means of investment in real estate and small businesses, with the ultimate goal of being able to support oneself by such investments alone. In tandem with this, Kiyosaki defines "assets" as things that generate money, such as rental properties or businesses, and "liabilities" as things that cost money, such as house payments, cars and so on. Kiyosaki also proclaims financial leverage to be critically important in becoming rich.

Kiyosaki endorses what he calls "financial education", which he claims is never taught to most people. He also advocates learning through experience and failure. Both of these are portrayed as more important than traditional education taught in most schools and universities, much of which he claims is increasingly irrelevent in the "post industrial age".

Kiyosaki makes use of what he calls "The Cashflow Quadrant" in many of his publications. The diagram consists of four groupings, split with two lines (one vertical and one horizontal). In each of the four groups there is a letter representing a way in which an individual may earn income. The letters are as follows.

• E: Employee – Working for someone else
• S: Self-employed or Small business owner – Where a person owns his own job and is his own boss.
• B: Business owner – Where a person owns a "system" of making money, rather than a job to make him money.
• I: Investor – Spending money in order to receive a larger payout in return.

Kiyosaki says that those on the left side of the diagram never obtain true wealth while those on the right are on the road to "true wealth".

Books

Kiyosaki is best known for his book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad,” the #1 New York Times bestseller. Kiyosaki followed with Rich Dad's CASHFLOW Quadrant and Rich Dad's Guide to Investing - all 3 books have been on the top 10 best-seller lists simultaneously on The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and The New York Times. He has now had at least a dozen books published. A partial list of his books is included below. [4]

Rich Dad, Poor Dad (2000)

“Rich Dad, Poor Dad - What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money - That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!” Written by Robert Kiyosaki & Sharon L. Lechter. Publisher - Warner Business Books / First published in (2000) / ISBN 0446677450 / Barnes & Noble - Reviews

Originally self-published before being picked up commercially to become a best seller, the central concept of the book is an anecdotal comparison of his "two fathers." His "poor dad" was his biological father, who became Superintendent of the Hawaii State Department of Education but had very little real net worth. Contrasted with this is his (arguably fictitious, see “Criticism and Controversy” section of this article) "rich dad," his best friend's father who became "the richest man in Hawaii" by investing his smaller income into income-producing investments. Its main purpose as a self-help book is to help people rethink their idea of money and especially their concept of themselves as employees who will gain financial rewards from conformity and education.

Kiyosaki uses the "rich dad, poor dad" comparison to illustrate his view that the majority of people are stuck in what he refers to as "the rat race"—living paycheck to paycheck and spending all of their time working to pay bills. In his books, Kiyosaki advocates tax-advantaged investment vehicles, such as real estate or businesses, rather than ownership of securities. This idea is further developed in his later books and "Rich Dad" became Kiyosaki's personal brand for various publishing ventures.

Cashflow Quadrant (2000)

“Cashflow Quadrant” is a personal finance and investing book written with Sharon Lechter, C.P.A. as the sequel to Rich Dad, Poor Dad. In it, Kiyosaki discusses what he calls the cashflow quadrant: a grid consisting of the letters E, S, B, and I. The cashflow quadrant itself is just an illustrative tool to show the difference between Employees, Self Employed/Small Business owners, Business owners (not directly involved in the day-to-day operation of the company), and Investors. Kiyosaki discusses the differences between concepts and ideas characteristic of each quadrant, particularly as they relate to passive income and tax advantages. Again, as a self-help author, he invites readers to consider their own ideas about money.

Rich Kid, Smart Kid (2001)

“Rich Kid, Smart Kid” is a retelling of Kiyosaki's views, condensed and clarified to try and help parents better understand and teach their children key financial concepts. It includes a series of activities that a parent can do with their child to make them aware of property, finance and the various ways and places businesses make money.

Rich Dad's Prophecy (2002)

"Rich Dad's Prophecy" predicts that the market will crash around 2016 when the oldest Baby Boomers start cashing out their 401(k) plans. Individuals whose savings are locked into 401(k) plans will suffer because these retirement plans aren't flexible and don't do well in a bear market. [5]

From the Publisher:[6] The #1 New York Times bestselling authors of the Rich Dad Poor Dad series deliver a financial plan to help Baby Boomers survive an impending economic crash. Anyone with a 401(k) knows that investing in mutual funds is not safe, or so claim Kiyosaki and Lechter. Even worse, they warn that a devastating economic crash is imminent because Baby Boomers will soon be required by law to drain trillions of dollars stashed in 401(k)s, IRAs, SEPs, and other mutual fund savings accounts as they start to retire. In short, the country's financial system won't withstand the drain, and relying on a 401K and Social Security will mean financial disaster. Here, Kiyosaki and Lechter provide a financial roadmap for readers to prosper during these troubled times.

Didactic Games

Kiyosaki stresses the value of games; particularly Monopoly as a tool for learning basic financial strategies such as "trade four green houses for one red hotel". Kiyosaki has created several games to reinforce the information in his books.

Cashflow 101

“Cashflow 101” is a board game designed by Robert Kiyosaki, which aims to teach the players concepts of investing and making money.

There are two stages to the game. In the first, "the rat race", the player aims to raise his or her character's passive income level to where it exceeds the character's expenses. The winner is determined in the second stage, "the fast track". To win, a player must get his or her character to buy their "dream" or accumulate $50,000 in monthly cash flow.

The game forces the players to do the accounts by themselves. In place of “score cards”, there are financial statements. Therefore, players can see more clearly what is happening with their money. It generally shows how assets generate incomes and liabilities and 'doodads' affect expenses.

Cashflow 202 “Cashflow 202” is a more advanced game than Cashflow 101. It is designed to help players learn about more sophisticated investing strategies. Cashflow 101 was generally meant to teach investing techniques that would work best in an “up market” where property values steadily increase, whereas Cashflow 202 is supposed to teach investment strategies for a fluctuating market where property values depreciate as well as raise.

Cashflow for Kids “Cashflow for Kids” is basically a children’s version of Cashflow 101 it is good for ages 5-9. There is also a cashflow for kids e game. You can get it for free at http://www.richkidsmartkid.com.

Cashflow® The E-Game “Casfhlow® The E-Game” is a computer software version of the Cashflow 101 board game. It is not necessary to have the board game in order to play the computer game.

Cashflow 202 The E-Game “Cashflow 202 The E-Game” is a software expansion of the computer game “Cashflow® The E-Game”. It’s counterpart is the “Cashflow 202” board game described earlier in this article.

Appearances

PBS

Several local stations of the Public Broadcasting System (PBS), including KOCE of Los Angeles and WGBH of Boston, have featured Kiyosaki during fund-raising drives. During this television special, Rich Dad's Guide to Wealth with Robert Kiyosaki, he provides viewers with what he calls "financial education", as opposed to academic or professional education.

News

Robert Kiyosaki has been seen giving financial advice on various network television news channels.

New York City's Madison Square Garden (October, 2002)