Rich Dad Poor Dad

Outline

Rich Dad Poor Dad (1997) contrasts the money lessons Robert Kiyosaki learned from two fathers: his highly educated but struggling father and his best friend's entrepreneurial father. Through simple stories, it explains the difference between assets and liabilities, the trap of the rat race, the value of financial literacy and why working to learn matters as much as working to earn. It became one of the best-selling personal finance books of all time.

• The book sets two fathers side by side: one highly educated but struggling with money, the other an entrepreneur whose lessons shaped Kiyosaki.
• Knowing the difference between assets and liabilities is presented as a basic step toward making your money work for you.
• The rat race is described as a trap, and the book explains why it is hard to escape.
• Financial literacy is treated as a skill worth building, not something a good education automatically provides.
• Working to learn matters as much as working to earn, so a job is also a place to gain skills.

Robert T. Kiyosaki was born in 1947 in Hawaii. He served as a pilot in the US Marine Corps, then worked as a salesman for Xerox before becoming an entrepreneur, investor and educator. He founded the Rich Dad Company. His other books include Rich Dad's Cashflow Quadrant, also summarised on Durar.