Rich Dad, Poor Dad

I recently read the book “Rich Dad; Poor Dad,” by Robert Kiyosaki. It is a story and manual on how to follow “rich Dad’s” advice on securing true assets (rather than liabilities) that will act as money-making machines in the future. It is a book about worldly-wise investing. That’s not all bad. But it is also only half the story.

I’m not intending to say anything negative about the author. But when I read a book, I tend to want to “baptize” it. That is, I try to think through the story and advice from a Biblical point of view. Many others could weigh in on this, and may certainly come up with other observations or different conclusions.

The author honored his neighbor/friend’s father who mentored him. That would be “rich dad.” His own, biological father. Not so much. His own father was a university professor who advised his son to study hard, find a good company/employer, and stay put. “Work for your wage.” “Earn your retirement.” That is the slow, incremental approach. It also sounds Biblical. It is not that the Bible forbids making money and having wealth. But the Bible clearly honors hard work that lasts a lifetime. We are not to be like the man building bigger barns, saying to himself, “You have many goods stored up for many years. Take it easy.”

While the author never expressly condemned his “poor dad” father, neither did he commend him. Measured in purely monetary terms, his dad did not do so well as others. But we know, don’t we, that there are other measures that are surely far more important? And so for all that Robert may have been able to communicate about his father, if we were to meet him based on our available information, he is simply “poor dad.” That’s poor honor.

Also, nobody gets rich alone. The author was coached and trained to ask the right questions and do the right things in order to make the most of opportunities. It was not merely given to him. He worked for it. He is smart and ambitious. Nothing wrong with those things. But as he advocates to his readers his own lifestyle, we need to realize that nobody gets rich alone. Those small-cap investments? There are lots of little people putting in long hours doing hard work to generate earnings. And they are earning daily wages. Those apartments he owns? There are plumbers and other maintenance specialists working daily/hourly toward their retirements. 

We are all put together a little differently - different gifts and life situations. Surely, to those who are given much, much is required.