Does Robert Kiyosaki's 'rich dad' actually exist?

Question

Does anyone have any leads on this 'rich dad?' The rich dad either didn't exist, or Robert Kiyosaki IS the rich dad. Somebody had to say it.

I'm not saying anything about the business advice. The books are pretty ironclad in that regard. It just seems so convenient that after all of these years their conversations are so well preserved that they can be perfectly dramatized to include long pauses and small chuckles.

Some might say that he wants to preserve the identity of his rich dad, which is fine, but where is Mike, the rich dad's real son? Couldn't Mike just show up to one seminar, or an interview? If Mike is reading this right now, please PM me ;)

Katie Neason · Answer

I do not know if he is real or not. My response is...who cares?  Why does it matter?

James Park · Answer

The person Robert Kiyosaki is referring to his rich dad is Dr. R. Buchminister Fuller. Dr. Fuller had a reputation as a futurist and was often called "Grandfather of the Future." He had a real gift of being able to predict the future of economics trends.

Back in the 1960s, the U.S. government had chosen Dr. Fuller's Dome, a structure that represented the future, to be the U.S. Pavilion. In 1964, Dr. Fuller had made the cover of the Time Magazine. He was consideed to be one of the greatest

It was Robert Kiyosaki's real dad, known as the poor dad who first introduced Robert to Dr. Fuller in the late 1950s. In 1981, Robert Kiyosaki was 34 years old and was invited to spend a week studying with Dr. Fuller at a lodge outside of Lake Tahoe, California. The title of the conference was "The Future of Business" . It was this week that forever changed the life direction of Robert Kiyosaki. Between 1981 - 1983, he spent a lot time of time with Fuller and studying his work. This is when Robert discovered his spiritual profession, spiritual work, spiritual job, and his life purpose.

Dr. Fuller passed away on July 1, 1983.

Peter K. · Answer

My understanding is that "Rich Dad" is a combination of a few people, possibly including Keith Cunningham, who wrote "Keys to the Vault".   Keith is great, saw him at an Anthony Robbins event.

Most people need to know WHY they should learn something to be motivated enough to learn and implement the WHAT and HOW.   The Rich Dad book is great at WHY and some WHAT....very little HOW, but there are lots of other resources for HOW, including BP.

For the literal thinkers out there that believe that the best way to learn is via Non-fiction, remember that most of the best teachers in history used parables, metaphors, fables and other fictional methods of teaching.  This is called inferential learning which can bypass our critical faculty and relay information much more effectively.  Do most people relate more with the Star Wars characters or to their high school biology book?  There is a small percentage  that answer the biology book.   They are likely literal thinkers/engineers/scientists.

Since almost every BP podcast guest gives props to the rich dad book, there is probably something there to take away.  I personally got a lot of useful pricipals, mindset and ideas including:  Limit your doodad spending and invest in income producing assets, personal residence is not an asset unless and until it produces income, ESBI, tax-reduction ideas, etc.  and more importantly, I still remember much of what I learned from the book even though I read it only once over a decade ago.  That is the power of inferential learning.

Max Kim · Answer

2008 was great.  The sky was falling, and I bought 3+bed /2 bath houses under $20k that were formerly $100k+.  Sure, the news said that the financial world was ending, but I figured it was a no brainer investment with rents of $850-950/month.  I could have bought under $10k if I went to war zones, but I highly value my life.  There weren't any lenders at that price range, and cash was king.  In 2009, I went to a major bank when I owned 10 rentals in cash (and no mortgages) with a high paying w-2 job for an owner occupant mortgage, and they told me that I wouldn't qualify because they were afraid of real estate investors.

Richard C. · Answer

The scammer actually admitted that there is no, "Rich Dad."

And that "ironclad" business advice contains a tremendous amount of bad advice.

Kiyosaki's books should be understood as self-help/motivational type books.  They don't teach you about business or real estate any more than those, "Everything I needed to know I learned in kindergarten" books teach you about child psychology.

Their purpose is to pump you up and inspire you to do things.  Understand that they are books that are about emotion, and you'll be fine.  Rely on them for your business education, and you're doomed.

Bhekizwe M. · Answer

hmm...real or not the lessons from "rich dad" were gold especially the cashflow quadrant

Che Chiu Wong · Answer

So Max, what happen afterwards?  Did you cash out?  You should look into B2R or other community banks that will do blanket loans for these houses.

Ali Boone · Answer

@Katie Neason

I'm totally with you, on all fronts!

AJ Ard · Answer

His books provide a lot of useful information. The key is what you do with it. Buying in 2008 seems like bad timing. Some investors will use that as a reason to quit others will use the lesson to go on to great success. Which one will you be?

Cal C. · Answer

Just out of curiosity what other works of fiction do you use as inspiration for investing your hard earned dollars?

Does Robert Kiyosaki's 'rich dad' actually exist?

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