Robert Kiyosaki – Rich Dad, Poor Dad: How To Use Debt To Get Rich

Robert Kiyosaki is an American entrepreneur, educator, investor, and best-selling author.

His book changed my life forever. He helped me take control of my financial future and inspired me to become an Internet entrepreneur.

He is best known for his book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What The Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!, which is the #1 personal finance book of all time.

Ready to discover how you can use debt to get rich? Listen to Robert Kiyosaki!

Watch the video below:

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Robert Kiyosaki is a financial expert.

His teachings have transformed the way that people around the world think about money. Robert Kiyosaki believes that most young people are brainwashed by the school system. They are sold the idea that if they go to university and get a good job, they will achieve financial security.

In today’s economic landscape, this is far from true. This is why we need to take it upon ourselves to become financially educated. In our interview, Robert Kiyosaki and I talk about his new book, Fake: Fake Money, Fake Teachers, Fake Assets: How Lies Are Making the Poor and Middle Class Poorer. In the book, Robert challenges conventional wisdom and empowers his readers to ask questions that will help them determine what is real and what isn't when it comes to money,

Let's dive in!

Do you mind sharing your “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” story?

I grew up in Hawaii. I'm a fourth-generation Japanese American. My poor dad had a Ph.D. and was the head of education for the state of Hawaii. However, I used to say that Ph.D. stood for poor, helpless and desperate. Our schools teach us nothing about money.

Even though I was a poor kid, I went to a rich kid's school. When I was 9 years old, I raised my hand and asked my teacher why others were rich and I was poor. She said, “If you stay in school you will be rich.” I said, “Don't B.S. me. My father has a Ph.D. and he is broke!” I kept raising my hand and she finally said, “The love of all money is the root of all evil.” I said, “It might be evil to you but I would like to have some.”

I kept asking my poor dad when he was going to teach me about money.

He said, “I can only teach what the government lets me teach and money is not one of those subjects.” That was my first wake up call that education was brainwashing. I went to a very good college and got a degree but I didn't learn anything about money. I started studying with my rich dad when I was 9 years old. He taught my best friend and I about money by playing monopoly.  Today, I own 7,000 rental properties and five hotels. All I do is play monopoly.

It's not that hard to get rich but you have to have good teachers.

There are a lot of fake teachers out there. That's why I wrote my book, Fake: Fake Money, Fake Teachers, Fake Assets: How Lies Are Making the Poor and Middle Class Poorer. Our school system is fake. Not only that, but we have fake money and we have fake assets in terms of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and ETFs. In my book, I write about the infinite return, meaning that the higher your financial IQ is, the less money that you need. In my opinion, if you need money, you're not using your brain properly.

What is your mindset when it comes to debt?

If you're going to be educated, you need to know the difference between credit and debt. All money today is credit. It doesn't exist. Credit is simply the power to spend.

The moment you spend it, you create debt.

When it comes to debt, there is a contractual agreement that you will pay it back. The trouble is that most people never pay it back. Look at the student debt crisis. Student loan debt is bigger than the subprime crisis that brought down the market in 2008. That is what we are dealing with when it comes to financial education.

What could someone do to educate themselves for a potential crash?

There's nothing wrong with crashes. They are actually really good. In 2008 when the markets crashed they also lowered the interest rates. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. My partners and I borrowed $300 million and we bought more property. Ten years later, we are now almost $600 million in debt but we got very rich off of our debt. However, this kind of success takes financial education. This is why I created the Cashflow Board Game because it encourage you to use debt to get rich. If you don't use debt, then follow Dave Ramsey's rule of living debt free.

Why is selling the most important skill someone can develop?

If you can't sell,  you don't have any income. My poor dad was very disappointed in me because he wanted me to get my MBA and fly for an airline. However, I didn't want to be an employee. Rather, I wanted to be an entrepreneur. My rich dad said that the #1 skill of every entrepreneur is selling. The only job I really had was with Xerox because they had a sales training program.

I became #1 in sales for that company.

I quit shortly after and started my own business. It was a nylon and velcro surfer's wallet business. I sold the hell out of that thing. The trouble was that I sold more than I could produce, which got me into trouble. It was a good lesson.  My poor dad didn't want me to be a salesman because he saw them as crooks. That is an elite academic mentality.

What inspired you to write your new book, Fake?

Fake is the graduate school for my book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad. In 1972, I was flying into Vietnam. Nixon took the dollar off the gold standard so my co-pilot and I decided to go look for gold. We didn't know what that was. We flew to a gold mine.

When I attempted to buy gold for $40, the Vietnamese woman wouldn't give me a discount, expressing that it was $50 dollars or nothing. She was one of the best teachers I ever had because she taught me about money. I learned from her that money is fake and gold is real.

We sailed to Hong Kong in 1972 and I bought my first piece of gold for $50. Today, South African krugerrand is worth $1450. Ever since that day, I only save gold and silver. I call gold“gods money” and the U.S. dollar “fake money.”

Are you ready to use your debt to get rich?

The experience and opportunity of meeting Robert Kiyosaki is something that I will never forget. His work has impacted my life and business in profound ways. I hope that his knowledge has inspired you to change the way that you think about financial wealth and abundance.

If you have yet to read his new book, Fake, I highly recommend that you do. Also, make sure that you subscribe to his YouTube channel. He's got a lot of great content for you to consume. If you are looking for ways to elevate your financial well-being, this is the man to listen to.

In the words of Robert Kiyosaki himself – “If you want to thrive in today's economy, you must challenge the status quo and get the financial education necessary to succeed.”