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One Sentence-Summary:  Rich Dad Poor Dad  tells the story of a boy with two fathers, one rich, one 
poor, to help you develop the mindset and financial knowledge you need to build a life of wealth and 
freedom. 
Favorite quote from the author: “The main reason that over 90 percent of the American public 
struggles financially is because they play not to lose.” 
Rich Dad Poor Dad is a modern classic of personal finance and  favorite finance book of all time. 
Although the book is controversial and often takes criticism, people still believe it’s worth reading. 
Otherwise, it wouldn’t have sold over 32 million copies. 
Robert Kiyosaki tells the story of his two Dad’s in his childhood. His own father and the father of his 
best friend. While he speaks affectionately of both, they were very different when it came to dealing 
with finances. 

Rich Dad Poor Dad Summary 

Many of us are too afraid of being branded as a weirdo, in order to exit the  rat race . We let the two 
main emotions everyone has around money dominate our decisions: fear and greed. That’s why we 
still stick to the outdated mantra “Go to school, go to college, get a job, play it safe.” when in 
reality  no job is safe any more . 
For example, when you get a raise at your job, a wise choice would be to invest the extra money. Put it 
into something that builds wealth like stocks or bonds, which has risk, but a lot of potential. Maybe 
you find a good fund with a 60% chance to double your money within a year, but a 40% chance of 
losing it all. However, most likely your fear of losing the money altogether will keep you from doing 
so. 
But when your greed takes over, you might then spend the extra money on an improved lifestyle. You 
might buy a fancy new car, and the payments eat up the money, for instance. This way you’re almost 
certain to lose 100%. This already gives you a glimpse of how important it is to educate yourself 
financially. Since we receive no financial education in school or college, sadly, this is entirely up to 
you. 
Look around and you’ll see plenty of financially ignorant people in your own life. Just take a look at 
local politicians. Is their city in debt? Your mayor might be great, but unfortunately, he probably 
doesn’t know how to deal with money. 
For the same reason 38% of Americans don’t save anything for their retirement. The only way for you 
to counteract this is to start now. Today is the youngest you’ll ever be, so take a close look at what 
you can and can’t afford. This way you’ll be able to set realistic financial goals, even if it means 
waiting for that shiny new BMW. 
Next, adopt the mindset of “work to learn” instead of “work to earn”. Take a job in a field you have no 
clue about, such as sales, customer service or communications, to develop new skills –  you never 

know what they might be good for . Set aside 5% of your income each month to buy books, courses 
and attend seminars on personal finance to start building your financial IQ. 
The first step toward building wealth lies in the mindset of managing risks instead of avoiding 
them. Also, learn about investments to understand that it’s better to not play it safe because you’ll 
miss big potential rewards. Don’t start big, just set aside a small amount, like $1,000 or even $100, 
and invest it in stocks, bonds, or even  tax lien certificates . Treat the money as if it’s gone 
forever and you’ll worry less about losing it. 
As soon as you start your journey towards wealth, you’ll realize that it’ll be quite a long one. That’s 
why it’s important to stay motivated. Kiyosaki suggests creating an “I want” and an “I don’t want” 
list. Include items like: “I want to retire at age 50.” or “I don’t want to end up like my broke uncle.” 
Another idea is to pay yourself first each month. Take the portion of your salary you want to spend 
on stocks or your financial education, invest it, and pay your bills afterward. It’ll create pressure to be 
creative in making money and show you what you can afford. 
Use your money to acquire assets instead of liabilities. Assets are stocks, bonds, real estate that you 
rent out, royalties (for example  from music ) and anything that generates money and increases in 
value over time. Liabilities can be cars with monthly payments, a house with a mortgage, and of 
course debt.  Anything that takes money out of your pocket each month is a liability. 
There’s no rush. Just stay at your full time job and “mind your own business”. In this case, your job is 
what pays the bills and your business is what makes you wealthy. Build your business on the 
side and use it to invest in assets until your assets eventually become the main source of your income. 
You can even file a corporation to be taxed only after you’ve earned and invested, instead of being 
taxed before investing as an employee and trying to live off what’s left. 
The most important thing is that you start today. You are your own biggest asset, so the first thing 
you should put some money into is yourself.