Rich Dad Poor Dad

Rich Dad Poor Dad is a book and a coaching service that promises to help you:

• Build a personalized financial and CASHFLOW plan
• Discover your Mission, Passion and Purpose
• Create an individual strategy to become secure, comfortable, and rich
• Map out where you want to go financially and what you’ll need to do to get there
• Personalize an investment plan to help you into the “B” and “I” quadrants
• Set your plan in motion

Can Robert Kiyosaki, the author and face of the company, give you the advice that a “rich dad” would give you? The BBB has expressed its doubts, warning consumers to use caution around Rich Dad Poor Dad seminars, and CBS MoneyWatch posted a negative review of such seminars in 2010. The New York Post reported that Mr. Kiyosaki declared bankruptcy in 2012, which seems to reflect negatively on Rich Dad’s advice.

The “coaching” offered on the Rich Dad Poor Dad website seems to just be these poorly reviewed seminars under a new name. But what about the book, a best seller? We’ll let selected quotes from the Amazon.com reviews of Rich Dad Poor Dad make the case as to whether you should buy anything Rich Dad Poor Dad:

do not think that you are likely to duplicate his personal experience to success. . .his position does not correspond to most of ours.

To put it bluntly, “Duh.” . . .didn’t really do squat for me.

the “strategies” Kiyosaki proposes could work only in the movies . . . If you actually try them in the real world, you will be laughed at, waste your time and money, get audited by the IRS, or worse.

And those are just from the three reviews Amazon puts on the book’s main page.

Think carefully about this one — plenty of “the secret to getting rich” programs are selling information that’s available for free. A library card and some reading time might be better than paying for such programs.