Does anybody else think that "rich dad, poor dad" book is worthless?

Question

I read the entire book and learned nothing. Has anybody ever tried to figure out who "rich dad" was? Is anybody taxed by the government at 50%? I'd like to meet them. Does anybody rent or lease from Kiyosaki? I wonder what they tell their neighbors???

Thanks, tool.

Seanchasworth,
Let me tell you a little secret. Social security is made so that you pay no more than you have to. Even though you are unfortunate to be self employed and paying the 17% social security rate - the first dollar you make over $87,900 is no longer taxed for social security. So, even if I do make $350,000 a year I will never go beyond 45% for each ( and every) dollar I make. The more I make over $87,900 the more I save from not paying social security. In the worst case scenario where I'm making at least $350,000 a year - thats 31% + 10% (state and medicare) + your stated 3% (property tax) = 44% minus the huge tax reliefs for my house and IRA (Unless I waste all that money!) minus tax savings from previous tax brackets I went through.

It's even better when I am employed with a company because my employer pays half my social security. My taxes will never reach 50%, let alone 60%!

Actually, california income tax is 9.3% (not 8%) if you make more than $40,346. I'll assume you make $40,345 - Take 45% tax and it leaves $22,190 net pay. If all that were spent on twinkies that would be $1775 in sales tax which is 4.3% of your income (not 8% which you figured.) I'm sure you don't pay that much sales tax because you do have property tax (I assume you pay a mortgage with this)and you are self-employed. And besides - Kiyosakis point was the more money you make the more you pay in taxes which isn't true. After $87,900 you instantly get a 15% (7.3% for employed folks like me) tax cut.

You chose to pay property tax. It is one of the costs associated with owning a home.

Seanchasworth,

Have you heard of anybody using a property management company? Ask any investor, they'll tell you a management company takes 10-15% of the rent + operating expenses. A lot of their profit comes from "kickbacks" that they get like using a certain (expensive) paint for all their properties. Not a good idea, especially for a beginning investor who has no idea how to keep track of housing expenses.

You're right, the book isn't super useful, and it's not a substitute for real experience (or commen sense!)

I found the site. Its
www.johntreed.com/kiyosaki.html

The page itself is a bit lengthy, but that's because Johns been a real estate investor for 23 years, and hes been at kiyosaki and "guru's" like him for more than 7 years.

Answer 1

worthless. absolutely worthless. i don't know him. I'm not taxed 50% either. i don't rent or lease form him. I'm not sure why i bought the book. yes, he points out some sensical advice but it doesn't lay out the steps for becoming wealthy. i want solid steps. not puff-pieces on bullshit that doesn't apply to me.

Answer 2

From my internet search, 'Rich Dad' is not a single person.

Here's my tax situation. I'm self employed. So 15% social security + 2% medicare. That's 17%.
Federal income tax is about 20% (I'm not in the highest bracket, especially after deducting half of the stuff above)
California state income tax is another nearly 8%.

That adds up to about 45% right there, and my household income is close to the median. If I was in the highest bracket, that 45% would rise to maybe 60%.

And I haven't counted the sales tax (about 8% of taxable purchases) or property tax (about another 3-5% of my income).

I would imagine that Kiyosaki uses a management company to deal with his renters, and his corporation owns the apartment building or house. They probably don't have a clue who really owns their building.

The book isn't super useful, but it does give a few general ideas about thinking more open in a financial way. I found it a bit uplifting, but not a substitute for real experience.

Answer 3

Yes I've read a lot of his books
The thing to consider here is not neccessarily real estate,
But developing a mindsett, of success vs poor mentallity,
most of us spend our lives going from home to work home to work waiting on social security to not be there, and slowly watching the 401 k become an 01k, The key in his first book
is in the mindsett, read his other novels to understand more details he has some more real estate specific novels.
Good Luck and God Bless

Answer 4

The definition of happiness is "being content with one's self." It doesn't remember how a methods up the ladder-of-existence we've climbed, quite its how we dealt with others as we make the complicated climb to the perfect.

Answer 5

Good Book to change your mindset. The four quadrants makes you to realise where u r@!

Answer 6

nope never read it.
but i heard tht its a gd book n didnt win an award???

Answer 7

never herd of it