03/08/2016
The economy is in tatters; your job is in troubleâif you still have a job. And
you know what? Iâve been saying it for years.
It took a global financial meltdown for most to hear it. But this book isnât about
how or why everything has gone to hell in a handbasket. Itâs about why this bad news
turns out to be very good newsâif you know what to do about it.
I learned about business from two people: my father, who was a very wellÀeducated, highly placed government employee, and my best friendâs father, who was
an eighth-grade dropout and self-made millionaire. My real father suffered financial
problems his entire life and died with little to show for all the long years of hard
work; my best friendâs dad became one of the richest men in Hawaii.
I thought of these two men as my âpoor dadâ and my ârich dad.â I loved and
admired my real dad very much, and vowed that I would help as many people
as possible avoid suffering the kinds of indignities and failures that plagued
his path.
After I left home, I had all kinds of experiences. I served in the Marines as
a helicopter pilot in Vietnam. I went to work for Xerox, starting out as their
worst salesperson and leaving four years later as their best. After leaving Xerox,
I developed several multimillion-dollar international businesses and was able to
retire at the age of 47 to pursue my passionâto teach others how to build wealth
and live the lives they dream of living, instead of settling for mediocrity and
sullen resignation.
In 1997, I wrote about my experiences in a little book. I must have touched
a chord with at least a few readers: Rich Dad Poor Dad shot to the top of the New
York Times best-seller list and stayed there for more than four years, and has been
described as âthe best-selling business book of all time.â
Since then, Iâve put out a whole series of Rich Dad books, and although each one
has a slightly different focus, they all deliver the exact same message as that first book,
and itâs the message at the heart of this book you now hold in your hands:
Take responsibility for your financesâor get used to taking orders for the rest of your life. Youâre either a master of money or a slave to it. Your choice.
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I was incredibly fortunate in my life to have experiences and mentors that
showed me how to build genuine wealth. As a result, I was able to retire completely
from any need to work ever again. Up until that time, I was working to build my
familyâs future. Since then, Iâve been working to help build yours.
For the past ten years, I have devoted my life to finding the most effective and
practical ways to help people transform their lives in the 21st century by learning
how to build genuine wealth. Through our Rich Dad books, my partners and I have
written about many different types and forms of enterprise and investment. But
during these years of intensive research, I have come across one business model in
particular that I believe holds the greatest promise for the largest number of people
to get control of their financial lives, their futures, and their destinies.
One more thing. When I say genuine wealth, Iâm not talking about money alone.
Money is part of it, but itâs not the whole. Building genuine wealth is as much about
the builder as it is about the built.
In this book, Iâm going to show you why you need to build your own business,
and exactly what kind of business. But this isnât just about changing the type of
business youâre working with; itâs also about changing you. I can show you how to
find what you need to grow the perfect business for you, but for your business to grow, you will have to grow as well.
Welcome to the business of the 21st century.
