Mental Frame work

Robert Kiyosaki had the rare opportunity to study under the guidance of his highly educated, but “poor” dad, and his friend’s dad, who was poorly educated, but “rich”.

In matters of money, he decides to follow the advice of his rich dad, and ends up becoming very rich. His poor dad, though highly educated and highly placed in a government job, dies a poor man. As a young man, Robert had the time to think about the contrasting mental frame work of his two dads, and came to the conclusion that a rich man thinks and acts in a way very different from a poor man. In this book, poor does not necessarily means a person without money, but one who is ignorant of the way money works. The following excerpts from the book illustrate this contrasting thought pattern.

Poor dad: The love of money is the root of all evil.

Rich dad: The lack of money is the root of all evil.

Poor dad: I can’t afford it. - A definitive statement.

Rich dad: How can I afford it?-Beginning of a thought process

Poor dad: Study hard so you can find a good company to work for.

Rich dad: Study hard so you can find a good company to buy.

Poor dad: The reason I am not rich is because I have you kids.

Rich dad: The reason I must be rich is because I have you kids

Poor dad: When it comes to money, play it safe, don’t take risks.

Rich dad: Learn to manage risks.

Poor dad: Our home is our largest investment and our greatest asset.

Rich dad: My house is a liability, and if your house is your largest investment, you are in trouble.

Poor dad: I will never be rich.

Rich dad: Always referred to him as rich.

Poor dad: I am not interested in money, money doesn’t matter.

Rich dad: Money is power.

Poor dad: Study hard, earn a degree, and get a good job to work for money.

Rich dad: Study to be rich, to understand how money works and to learn how to have money work for you

These statements clearly show that a poor person’s financial programming and mindset are very different from those of a rich man.

Kiyosaki states that money is one form of power, but financial education is far more powerful. Money comes and goes, but if you have the education about how money works, you gain power over it, and can begin building wealth. However, the subject of money or financial skills is rarely taught in schools. This is one of the reasons why the rich gets richer, the poor get poorer, and the middle class struggles in debt.