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Robert Kiyosaki's Public Response to John T. Reed's Review of "Rich Dad Poor Dad"
It has been nearly 5 years since I first posted Robert Kiyosaki's only public response regarding John T. Reed's thrashing review of Rich Dad Poor Dad on this page. My, how time has passed. And this page gets an incredible amount of traffic. To think, I did it for no other reason than to give it an online counter-point (in Robert's own written words) to what I thought was an extremely biased and unfair review of Rich Dad Poor Dad. To me, it was a review grossly taken out of context for what the book's true intent was, to teach some complex ideas and concepts in a simple manner using a very clever style while promoting Kiyosaki's board game Cashflow 101.
I have to say I have found it amazing how polarizing Rich Dad Poor Dad has been. People either love it or hate it, both sides with a passion. And because I was an early supporter of Robert & Kim Kiyosaki's works before they "hit it big" with Oprah and the fact that I "dared" put up this response page nearly 5 years ago, I have gotten my share of nasty messages, false accusations, and personal attacks.
Today, I have no problems going on record saying that I respect what the Rich Dad Organization have done and accomplished. It does not mean I blindly support or agree with everything that has been put out but I think they have done a lot of positive, impactful things. I think the Rich Dad message has done a lot of good and teach some great real-world lesssons in a simple way.
And to the people who are so quick to personally attack, accuse, and spit venom, I would ask them, "What have they done lately to positively contribute to the world community and conversation?" It is easy to criticize and attack. It is easy to take things out of context. It is easy to not change your ways and keep to your everyday thinking.
It is much harder to look at yourself and look at the need for change. It is much harder to accept that simplicity, not complexity, is ultimately more powerful and effective. It is much harder to realize the world continues to change while you may not. It is much harder for someone to accept personal responsibility for where they are in life than to blame others.
As I wrap this up, I say, it is time to "put up or shut up". For gosh sake, it is only a book. Get your money back or resell it. Get the stress out of your system.. If you wanted a tax book, go get a tax textbook. If you want a hardcore real estate book, go to your local real estate association. If you wanted a hardcore finance book, go to the local university. If you want an accounting book, go visit your CPA. Otherwise, take Rich Dad Poor Dad for the simple but insightful book it truly is. Take what works for you and move on. If nothing works for you, then just move on and go do something else.
Life is too short to get aggravated over one (albeit best-selling) book.
Matthew Chan
Host of The MasterMind Forums
Publisher of
Ascend Beyond Publishing
July 1, 2006
The public letter below was
written and posted by Robert Kiyosaki on Cashflow Technologies' older
discussion board sometime in February 2000 when the infamous review of
"Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by John T. Reed first debuted. I would
have preferred to place the actual URL to that post but it is no longer
in existence because apparently their archive only goes back to April
2000. Because it was a well-written response, I did keep a copy of it.
It should be noted that Mr. Reed's review has evolved during the course
of the year to include more recent events such as Robert's appearance
on Oprah. Some things have been added, modified, or deleted from Mr. Reed's
review. This letter was a public response to Mr. Reed's earlier version
of his review.
As a personal comment, it is my opinion that Robert's initial letter still
stands up on its own merits. I find the review on Mr. Reed's site odd
because while Robert Kiyosaki is fond of real estate investing, "Rich
Dad, Poor Dad" is not a real estate book, nor has Robert ever claimed
to be a "real estate guru". Mr. Reed has obviously decided to
do a "review" out of context regardless of these 2 facts.
MatthewC (Host of MasterMind
Forum)
First posted in 2001/2002?
A REPLY FROM ROBERT KIYOSAKI
SUB: JOHN T. REED'S COMMENTS ABOUT RICH DAD POOR DAD
I normally do not reply to comments about me or my books and products. But many friends called me with concern
about John T. Reed's comments on his personal web site, so I decided to glance over his in depth report on my book.
First of all, I support our right to the freedom of speech. When I read comments on my company's bulletin board,
I weigh both compliments and criticisms equally and welcome both. I make no comments simply because both compliments
and criticism are important and I do not want to encourage or discourage either. I reply to John T. Reed's report
simply because it is much more than a criticism. I find it more of an angry attack and I wonder why. I wonder why
someone so smart and so rich would spend so much time writing a lengthy heated report on my simple little book.
So rather than say nothing I thought it best to offer you my view on his report and let you come to your own conclusions.
The following are my points to you, not him, on some of the points he raised:
1. First of all, "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" is a very simple book. It was not meant to be a textbook for the
Harvard Business School.
2. Second of all, RDPD was meant to take a very complex subject and make it simple. It seems he took what was simple
and made it complex.
3. "Rich Dad Poor Dad" is a true story of a man who did not graduate from high school, yet ultimately
became one of the richest men in Hawaii.
4. As my rich dad said, "In school, your measure of success is your report card. In the real world, your report
card is your financial statement." My rich dad did not have a good report card but he had a good financial
statement.
5. "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" is a story of a simple man teaching two 9 year old boys his 6 basic lessons about
money. As I said earlier, this book was not meant for students of the Harvard Business School. If "Rich Dad,
Poor Dad" raised the hair on John T. Reed's back, my next book, "Rich Dad's Guide to Investing",
which is now due out on May 1, 2000, will cause him to write an even longer report. I can't wait to read his next
document.
6. And finally, his accusations about my college education are worthy of comment. I considered going to the school
he went to, which was West Point. It is the federal military academy that trains officers for the U.S. Army. I
did not apply for a congressional appointment to his school, although it is a fine school. I chose my school, the
U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, New York for two reasons. And they are:
- I wanted to learn about international trade. Kings Point trains officers
to sail ships such as tankers, cargo ships, and passenger liners to carry on commerce throughout the world. At
Kings Point I studied subjects I love such as Naval Architecture, International Trade, Sailing, Navigation, Admiralty
Law, International Law, Business Law, as well as the regular hard sciences. I also spent a year abroad, sailing
on passenger ships like the Love Boat and sailing to places such as Hong Kong, Thailand, Alaska, and Tahiti. I
was being paid to go to school while I sailed the world. It was a great way to get a college education.
- Kings Pointers were at that time, some of the highest paid graduates in the world. In 1964, when I had to choose between Kings Point and West Point, a West Point graduate was making about $200 a month. A Kings Point graduate was starting out at over $2,000 a month and higher. So although Kings Point is not as prestigious a school as West Point, a 1000% ROI difference per month for the same 4 year education seemed like a smart financial decision to me.
The reason King Pointers were paid more upon graduation than West Pointers
was because Kings Pointers graduated as civilians and West Pointers graduated as military officers. Kings Pointers
were paid by private shipping companies while West Pointers were paid by the federal government. That is why, when
I graduated and went to work for Standard Oil of California, my pay was $42,000 a year, in 1969. West Pointers
were making a little less than $5,000 a year. My classmates who sailed civilian cargo ships in Vietnam were paid
double combat pay, although, they were not in much danger, which meant that many were paid $80,000 to $120,000
a year upon graduation. Not too bad for a 22 year old kid in 1969.
Although I was draft exempt and did not have to go to Vietnam because I was a Merchant Marine Officer, I chose
to resign from my high paying job and join the U.S. Marine Corps. I went to flight school and then on to fight
in Vietnam. Both of my dads thought it was the duty of a young man to defend his country in time of war and that
is what I did in 1969. So I only had that high paying job for only a short period of time.
And that is my reply to John T. Reed's report. It is written to you, not to him. I suspect he would only get angrier
if I tried to reason with him.
I replied because what he said seemed much more than a criticism of my Book, it seemed like a personal attack.
He has some valid points and I am sure he is a very smart man.
In fact, he acknowledges that the Thunderbird School of International Management of Arizona is one of the top schools
in international business. Should we tell him that Thunderbird uses "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" as part of its
curriculum in its entrepreneur program, and that I have been invited to speak to its students on several occasions?
Please refer to the testimonial from Thunderbird on our website.
Yet, my book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" while technically accurate, was not meant to be a technical book. It
is a simple book about an often complicated and technical subject. "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" was written primarily
to offer hope to people who wanted to find their own path to financial freedom rather than to be a slave to money
all their lives.
It was written to let people know that regardless if you did well in school or not, regardless if you had a high
paying job or not, that each and everyone of us has the ability to reach the land of financial freedom if we have
the proper financial education.
As a final note, there is a new book out that I highly recommend, written by Thomas J. Stanley the author of "The
Millionaire Next Door". In his new book, "The Millionaire Mind", Stanley surveyed over a thousand
millionaires and found that most were B and C students and had an average SAT score of 1190. In fact, most of the
millionaires would not have qualified for admission to most of the top academic institutions. Quoting from the
book, "I find no correlation between SAT scores, grade-point averages and economic achievement. None."
says Stanley.
And I say, "Keep learning, keep an open mind, and thank you for taking an interest in your own financial education."
Go to The Robert Kiyosaki Collection
