All Forum Posts by: Todd Garrison

This might be better suited in a different thread, but since it's Rich Dad related, I'll give it a shot.

The Cashflow game, while steep in price, does have its benefits. Think of it more as a fun way to increase your "financial IQ." The real purpose of the game is to get you to properly invest in real estate so that your passive income exceeds your expenses, thus getting you out of the "rat race."

Those who don't (or won't) grasp the concept will take hours and hours to finish the game. Once you understand and adopt the principles, it's relatively easy to "win."

I personally bought the CD-ROM version for my PC. Both versions operate the same way, although with the PC version, you can play against multiple computer opponents, if you wish.

I recall having a "Eureka" moment the first time I successfully completed the game, and it has forever changed the way I think about real estate investing. You can, in a few short moments, capture the essence of an entire book, which is pretty cool.

Overall, it scores points for being a fun way to learn the concepts espoused by Kiyosaki. Unfortunately, it loses points for me in the price.

My $.02

Todd

Hi Tom,

Wow--It was good to finally get an honest account of what to expect from these "advanced" trainings. Thank you for sharing your experience. I now see that the other posters who were "pro" on the trainings did indeed only have one posting each, so I think it's reasonable to assume that they are more likely shills for the Rich Dad Education company.

The impression I got from having read Kiyosaki's books was that he was a man of integrity. Unfortunately, what these courses are doing to people seems to belie that sense of confidence and trust.

Pressuring people to get their students to raise their credit limits so they can then turn around and max out their credit cards and put themselves in serious financial peril for for the sake of education seems to contradict anything and everything the original Rich Dad series had to say about "Financial IQ." Sad.

Anyone else out there with a similar experience?

Todd

And what site might that be?

Todd

Noelia,

That's great! That's actually the type of response I was hoping to hear. Perhaps I came across in my previous post as a tad dismissive of the methods that the Rich Dad Team utilized to get one to sign up for the "advanced" classes, but I in no way wanted to minimize the value I received from attending the $495 3-day seminar. And aside from the sales pitch, I felt that both my time and money were very well spent.

Given your review of the advanced training, I am now starting to look at the courses in a much more favorable light. Initially, when looking for some feedback of others' experiences, I did come across some reviews that cast aspersions on Rich Dad Trainings, often pointing to the fact that the Rich Dad Education program was essentially a repacked Russ Whitney product. Feeling a little disappointed, I decided to wait on such "investments" in my education until I felt a little more confident in getting my money's worth. At this point in my life, $20,000 is still considered quite a bit of money and didn't take parting with it lightly.

I'm glad you posted, Noelia, and I hope there are others out there who would be willing to share their experiences as well!

Todd

Nate,

Thank you for your post and giving us some insight as to the value of these courses. With such a steep price, I had to weigh the benefits of the courses with the financial impact it would have created. In other words, if it were a financial strain where I could *just* afford to enrol in a seminar, but my credit cards would be maxed out or I tapped into an equity line of credit, would this have been an advisable course of action? Given the high-pressure sales tactics at the seminar I did attend, I was led to believe that attending these advanced trainings would be worth the sacrifice of becoming over-leveraged, if I can use that cliché. To me, that was a red flag and was the deciding factor in deciding NOT to participate. I understand they wish to encourage and reward action and seizing the moment, but I wouldn't want to get myself upside down financially just to make it happen. Their apparent unwillingness or inability to offer financing or offer other arrangements effectively sealed the deal for me. If I had unlimited resources, I believe I would have taken a chance on it, but given my financial situation at the time and some of the reviews I read about the tactics that the Rich Dad team was using, I decide to defer that education until another time or when I could find out more about its value.

Like Wheatie said in the previous post, I too would like some more information about what they've taught you. I don't want you to divulge any "trade secrets" by any means, but whatever you feel comfortable sharing would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again for replying,

Todd

Thanks for the kind words, Michael. I am excited and am looking forward to learning/sharing with such a wealth of knowledge that seems to exist out there!

Todd

Good points. I suspect that there are many out there who want to believe that they can purchase (and just as many ready to sell) real estate knowledge rather than having to go through the trials and tribulations of actually experiencing it.

I have to wonder, though, if anyone who's gone through one of these courses felt that they got their money's worth at the end of the day.

Has anyone taken the plunge and attended any of the "Advanced Training" courses put on by the Rich Dad Education company? Last fall I attended a three day seminar put on by Rich Dad Education, but because of the steep price (and some mental red flags that went up during the seminar), I declined to sign up for any of them.

The first warnings started sounding as things got underway the first day when we were forbidden to network with anyone during or outside of the classroom, we weren't to challenge any of the ideas of the instructor, nor were we to conduct "research" on our own by using the Internet. They also wanted to protect their "proprietary" information, so they wouldn't allow you to record any of the sessions. Note taking, it seems, doesn't seem to threaten that.

I later came to find out that the Rich Dad Education seminars were essentially repackaged Russ Whitney products, and many people feel scammed by the whole process.

I understand that the basic training seminar is mostly motivational in nature and is designed essentially to upsell the attendee into purchasing one of the "advanced training" seminars that deal with a specific area of investing, anywhere from wholesaling to large development deals.

The basic training courses are $495, and if you can withstand/ignore the high pressure sales tactics, I felt that I did actually receive my money's worth in terms of knowledge and useful information. But the advanced courses range anywhere from $7,000 all the way up to $45,000, if memory serves. That seems like a ton of money, but if it's something that returns your "investment" back to you in increased profits from doing better RE deals, then I would assume most would feel the high cost would be worth it.

My question is, has anyone attended any of these courses, and if so, do yo feel that you got your money's worth by attending? I see precious little information anywhere on the Web regarding reviews of these more expensive training courses.

Perhaps attendees sign contracts forbidding them from talking about their experiences? I figured this would be the place to find out.

Todd

Hi Dave and thank you for your welcome message. Can't say I blame you for leaving for the brighter vistas of Arizona, although every year or two the sun will come out and bless us with a couple days' worth of Vitamin D. I guess that just means I will need to be successful enough to be able to buy some vacation homes in climes where the locals don't look so pasty and rusted ;o)

I'm looking forward to many fruitful discussions on my new favorite pastime. From what I've gathered thus far, you appear on the money as far as the number of friendly and helpful people.

Todd

Hello to all,

I am new to BiggerPockets and am so glad I finally came across the site. I have been looking for a place to call "home" for a while now that had a large, active community of like-minded people who are interested in both learning and sharing what they know.

As for myself, I have been trying to become more educated over the last 3-4 years, absorbing as much as I can from books, courses offered through a local community college, and even a seminar or two. I feel I am now ready to take the plunge, so to speak, and I feel there are much fewer holes to be filled knowledge-wise, as there used to be, so I'm feeling more confident about my success the first time out.

Eugene is a mid-sized city of about 150,000, so I hope I am able to find some other folks out there that are from the same area.

I am primarily interested in rehabbing and wholesaling for the near term, with a long term strategy of buying and holding for appreciation and cash flow once I have enough capital to make these deals more fesaible.

I know I'll have lots of questions, but I'd like to thoroughly read through these forums first lest I ask something that has already been answered.

In time I hope to give back to help pay for the education I've received.

Anyway, just wanted to say hello and a big thank you for making this site possible!

Happy Investing!

Todd