Comments on: Why They Want You to Be Broke!

By: Seif

Seif — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 07:37:00 +0000

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By: Calder

Calder — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 00:10:00 +0000

I agree that the book is a rehash of all Kiyosaki's previous books. After the first one or two, they all started to say the same thing.

What I don't necessarily agree with is your comment about not listening to someone who has previously filed for bankruptcy. It depends on whether they recovered and went on to become rich and successful afterwards.

Your comparison with the 400 pound guy down the street. If you use it in the same context, you say that the 400 pound guy, who is now 140 pounds, is not someone we should listen to on weight loss because he used to obese? Wouldn't you want to know how he
had such success if you were overweight? So, going back to
Kiyosaki & Trump. Whether you agree or disagree, wouldn't you
like to know how they did it, particularly as they both appear to be so successful.

By: Bob

Bob — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 08:12:00 +0000

I would like to know what Kiyosaki’s financial position really is. He brags constantly about owning international businesses and mining interests, but there is no record of these holdings. I think that Kiyosaki is like the thousands of other snake-oil salesmen that rake in thousands or millions on books and lectures rather than the the “ideas” put forth in those books and lectures.

By: ispf

ispf — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 00:56:00 +0000

Wouldnt having filed for bankruptcy and then going on to become muli-millionaires make them the “model for the swimsuit issue of sports illustrated who at some point weighed 400-pounds?” I am not condoning everything they say or their techniques. But, if we keep an open mind, I am sure there are certain things we can learn from them.

By: Matthew Paulson

Matthew Paulson — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 16:47:00 +0000

Indeed, Dave Ramsey does a great job teaching people and showing them that peronsal finance is more about behavior modification than it is head knowledge.

The difference between Ramsey and Trump & Kiyosaki is that Ramsey actually learned something from his experiences in bankruptcy. He learned that borrowing money is not the way to go, and drastically changed his behavior and is now again very wealthy.

Trump & Kiyosaki still ignore the same risk which got them in financial trouble in the first place, and now they are trying to get others to follow their misbehavior.

By: Andy

Andy — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 15:51:00 +0000

Dave Ramsey has also declared bankruptcy. He often mentions that fact on his show. You seem to still value his financial advice.

By: EMF

EMF — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 00:55:00 +0000

Careful there! Trump has threatened to sue Rosie O’Donnell for stating that he had filed for bankruptcy. Looking over Trump’s Wikipedia article, it appears that he has not, although some of his business have.

As far as bankruptcy discrediting someone for giving financial advice, I would say that it depends. Depends on whether there was a lesson learned from it, as Dave Ramsey appears to have done.

But I’m not planning to buy Trump and Kiyosaki’s book. Has had other poor reviews, such as being an infomercial for their other products.

By: Jim Lippard

Jim Lippard — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 18:29:00 +0000

Kiyosaki made the vast majority of his money by selling his books and making public appearances, not by following his own advice.

Trump and Kiyosaki’s methods (the ones they actually used, which may have very little to do with the ones they are recommending) made them wealthy, but are those methods repeatable by anyone, or more than a tiny percentage of those who try them? No.

By: Lazy Man and Money

Lazy Man and Money — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 19:06:00 +0000

I recently got in a fun debate with Get Rich Slick about this fundamental issue.

You can get somewhat wealthy with the Millionaire Next Door method. I haven’t read the Dave Ramsey book, but everything that I’ve read about seems to be more about the psychology of not having debt than education of good debt vs. bad debt.

Just because these people have filed for bankrupcy doesn’t make them failures or the equivalent of 400 pound fitness/nutrition expert. They both have significant money now and if they wanted to hire me to be their personal assistant at a salary of $1M a year they could (at least Trump could). I don’t know if I could say that for anyone following Ramsey or Stanley. When Trump and Kiyosaki say “rich” they are talking “rich, rich” not 1-2 million dollars.

That said, Trump and Kiyosaki have taken a lot of risk and came out good. For every one of them there are probably a 100 (or more) that lost their life savings. There is still a lot of value in the lessons that they teach. When I read Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad it wasn’t about the desire to be rich, but more about working hard to learn the math that can make you rich.

In the end, you have to know what kind of risk is right for you to get to where you want to be.