Who is right? Poor Dad or Rich Dad's Son?

[Nick C.]

Here's the scenario:

I'm taking the real estate exam in April and need your advice.  I'm currently the owner of a small dog walking business.  It's tough to scale and I'm stuck in it.  My dream is passive income and an automated business that gives me more time to snowboard in Lake Tahoe.

Growing up, my best friend's dad had all the time & money in the world because of his investment portfolio.  My dad, on the other hand, has only one investment property and is unable to retire.  Both dads & my best friend are in commercial real estate.  Here's what they have to say:

Poor Dad says, "Investing is not easy & you need to get started in brokerage or property management to build a foundation.  You'll get burned if you try and jump right in.  Close shop on your dog walking business and get a job in real estate first."

Rich Dad's son says, "Keep your dog walking business in operation.  Look for deals at night and in your free time.  We're looking for multi-family properties with 20-60 units, C+ to B, built after 1980, etc..  Find a deal, bring it to me, we will partner on it, and bring it to our investors.  We just need one deal together to get started and everything you'll need to know you will learn by doing."

Who is right?

[Dave Foster]

@Nick C., There once was a man who loved dogs.  His dream was to be with dogs and love dogs and care for dogs.  so he started a dog walking business.  He did extremely well because he was doing what he loved and the dogs were happy and the owners were happy. One of the owners, a successful business man on his 3rd wife and 2nd ulcer told him that he could really be successful if he scaled his dog walking business.  

So the man hired another walker and then another and another.  His business went crazy and he had to increase his marketing to keep up with his walkers.  And one day at the end of the day he was wondering why he felt so sad.   After all he was the most successful dog walker in the land .  And he realized that he hadn't interacted with a real dog in weeks.  He was not a dog walker.  he was a business owner!  

Tongue in cheek but be careful that what you wish for is really what you wish.  Find your passion and pursue it.  If real estate can provide ways for you to enjoy your passion then great.  But be wary of accepting real estate as a passion if in your heart it is really a means to an end.