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A REPLY FROM ROBERT KIYOSAKI
SUB: JOHN T. REED'S COMMENTS ABOUT RICH DAD POOR DAD
I normally do not reply to comments about me or my books and products. But many friends called me with concern about John T. Reed's comments on his personal web site, so I decided to glance over his in depth report on my book.
First of all, I support our right to the freedom of speech. When I read comments on my company's bulletin board, I weigh both compliments and criticisms equally and welcome both. I make no comments simply because both compliments and criticism are important and I do not want to encourage or discourage either. I reply to John T. Reed's report simply because it is much more than a criticism. I find it more of an angry attack and I wonder why. I wonder why someone so smart and so rich would spend so much time writing a lengthy heated report on my simple little book.
So rather than say nothing I thought it best to offer you my view on his report and let you come to your own conclusions.
The following are my points to you, not him, on some of the points he raised:
1. First of all, "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" is a very simple book. It was not meant to be a textbook for the Harvard Business School.
2. Second of all, RDPD was meant to take a very complex subject and make it simple. It seems he took what was simple and made it complex.
3. "Rich Dad Poor Dad" is a true story of a man who did not graduate from high school, yet ultimately became one of the richest men in Hawaii.
4. As my rich dad said, "In school, your measure of success is your report card. In the real world, your report card is your financial statement." My rich dad did not have a good report card but he had a good financial statement.
5. "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" is a story of a simple man teaching two 9 year old boys his 6 basic lessons about money. As I said earlier, this book was not meant for students of the Harvard Business School. If "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" raised the hair on John T. Reed's back, my next book, "Rich Dad's Guide to Investing", which is now due out on May 1, 2000, will cause him to write an even longer report. I can't wait to read his next document.
6. And finally, his accusations about my college education are worthy of comment. I considered going to the school he went to, which was West Point. It is the federal military academy that trains officers for the U.S. Army. I did not apply for a congressional appointment to his school, although it is a fine school. I chose my school, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, New York for two reasons. And they are:
I wanted to learn about international trade. Kings Point trains officers to sail ships such as tankers, cargo ships, and passenger liners to carry on commerce throughout the world. At Kings Point I studied subjects I love such as Naval Architecture, International Trade, Sailing, Navigation, Admiralty Law, International Law, Business Law, as well as the regular hard sciences. I also spent a year abroad, sailing on passenger ships like the Love Boat and sailing to places such as Hong Kong, Thailand, Alaska, and Tahiti. I was being paid to go to school while I sailed the world. It was a great way to get a college education.
Kings Pointers were at that time, some of the highest paid graduates in the world. In 1964, when I had to choose between Kings Point and West Point, a West Point graduate was making about $200 a month. A Kings Point graduate was starting out at over $2,000 a month and higher. So although Kings Point is not as prestigious a school as West Point, a 1000% ROI difference per month for the same 4 year education seemed like a smart financial decision to me.
The reason King Pointers were paid more upon graduation than West Pointers was because Kings Pointers graduated as civilians and West Pointers graduated as military officers. Kings Pointers were paid by private shipping companies while West Pointers were paid by the federal government. That is why, when I graduated and went to work for Standard Oil of California, my pay was $42,000 a year, in 1969. West Pointers were making a little less than $5,000 a year. My classmates who sailed civilian cargo ships in Vietnam were paid double combat pay, although, they were not in much danger, which meant that many were paid $80,000 to $120,000 a year upon graduation. Not too bad for a 22 year old kid in 1969.
Although I was draft exempt and did not have to go to Vietnam because I was a Merchant Marine Officer, I chose to resign from my high paying job and join the U.S. Marine Corps. I went to flight school and then on to fight in Vietnam. Both of my dads thought it was the duty of a young man to defend his country in time of war and that is what I did in 1969. So I only had that high paying job for only a short period of time.
And that is my reply to John T. Reed's report. It is written to you, not to him. I suspect he would only get angrier if I tried to reason with him.
I replied because what he said seemed much more than a criticism of my Book, it seemed like a personal attack. He has some valid points and I am sure he is a very smart man.
In fact, he acknowledges that the Thunderbird School of International Management of Arizona is one of the top schools in international business. Should we tell him that Thunderbird uses "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" as part of its curriculum in its entrepreneur program, and that I have been invited to speak to its students on several occasions? Please refer to the testimonial from Thunderbird on our website.
Yet, my book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" while technically accurate, was not meant to be a technical book. It is a simple book about an often complicated and technical subject. "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" was written primarily to offer hope to people who wanted to find their own path to financial freedom rather than to be a slave to money all their lives.
It was written to let people know that regardless if you did well in school or not, regardless if you had a high paying job or not, that each and everyone of us has the ability to reach the land of financial freedom if we have the proper financial education.
As a final note, there is a new book out that I highly recommend, written by Thomas J. Stanley the author of "The Millionaire Next Door". In his new book, "The Millionaire Mind", Stanley surveyed over a thousand millionaires and found that most were B and C students and had an average SAT score of 1190. In fact, most of the millionaires would not have qualified for admission to most of the top academic institutions. Quoting from the book, "I find no correlation between SAT scores, grade-point averages and economic achievement. None." says Stanley.
And I say, "Keep learning, keep an open mind, and thank you for taking an interest in your own financial education."
