Today I went to Wikipedia to do some research on Robert Kiyosaki. I read his Bio and looked at all the books he has written on personal finance. Before reading the information posted on him I believed he was the most important personal financial writer of our time. Did this criticism change my mind? I’ll get to hat in a minute.
Here is the Criticism that was put forth.
ABC ran a 20/20 segment on May 19, 2006 in which Kiyosaki was to advise three entrepreneurs on how to make money. They were given $1000 and 20 days to try and make the most money possible. One earned a return of 24%, the second earned a return of 54% and gave it all to charity, and the third lost 100% because she invested in machines that could not be delivered in 20 days. The contestants alleged that Kiyosaki never gave concrete advice. "All he [Kiyosaki] does is, I guess, is open your mind to the possibility. He doesn't tell you how to do it." Kiyosaki responded that failure is important to learning. At the end, 20/20 asks, "Does anyone really need 18 books to learn to fail?"[1]Did reading that information on Robert Kiyosaki, change my opinion of him? Absolutely... NOT. If anything it strengthened my resolve. I don't like making mistakes or failing. I have been writing this blog since May 30th, 2011, and I still have not monetized it. But each day that I write, and test different ventures I learn from my actions, and make corrections to do better next time.
In working to build wealth through financial education, I have come to understand that getting an academic or theoretical understanding of making money and not acting on it is just as bad as never taking action at all.
What do you think? Please leave your comments below in the comment box.
