Other Bestselling Books by Robert T. Kiyosaki & Sharon L. Lechter Rich Dad Poor Dad What The Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That The Poor And Middle Class Do Not Rich Dad’s CASHFLOW Quadrant Rich Dad’s Guide To Financial Freedom Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing What The Rich Invest In That The Poor And Middle Class Do Not Rich Dad’s Rich Kid Smart Kid Give Your Child A Financial Head Start Rich Dad’s Retire Young Retire Rich How To Get Rich Quickly And Stay Rich Forever Rich Dad’s Prophecy Why The Biggest Stock Market Crash In History Is Still Coming… And How You Can Prepare Yourself And Profit From It! Rich Dad’s Success Stories Real Life Success Stories from Real Life People Who Followed the Rich Dad Lesson Copyright This publication is designed to provide competent and reliable information regarding the subject matter covered. However, it is sold with the understanding that the author and publisher are not engaged in rendering legal, financial, or other professional advice. Laws and practices often vary from state to state and if legal or other expert assistance is required, the services of a professional should be sought. The authors and publisher specifically disclaim any liability that is incurred from the use or application of the contents of this book. Although based on a true story, certain events in the book have been fictionalized for educational content and impact. Copyright © 2003 by Robert T. Kiyosaki and Sharon L. Lechter. All rights reserved. Published by Warner Books in association with CASHFLOW Technologies, Inc., and BI Capital, Inc. CASHFLOW and Rich Dad are registered trademarks of CASHFLOW Technologies, Inc. Rich Dad’s Advisors is a trademark of CASHFLOW Technologies, Inc. are trademarks of CASHFLOW Technologies, Inc. Warner Business Books are published by Warner Books, Inc., Hachette Book Group, 237 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Visit our website at www.HachetteBookGroup.com. The Warner Business Book logo is a trademark of Warner Books, Inc. The Warner Books name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc. First eBook Edition: October 2003 ISBN: 978-0-7595-0814-9 Contents Copyright Preface by Robert Kiyosaki Introduction by Sharon Lechter Part I: It’s How You Play the Game Chapter 1: Money Matters from Ed and Terry Colman Chapter 2: We Mind Our Own Businesses from Tracy Rodriguez Chapter 3: Never Too Late from Cecilia Morrison Part II: Where You’ve Been, Where You Can Go Chapter 4: Building Confidence One Property at a Time from David Lukas Chapter 5: A Different Education from Valerie L. Collymore, M.D. Chapter 6: Step Up to the Plate from Reed J. Schweizer Chapter 7: The Root of All That Is Good from Dan McKenzie Part III: A Different Focus Chapter 8: Better Than Winning the Lottery from Thomas G. Kotula Chapter 9: A Mutual Decision from Wade and Carol Yamamoto Chapter 10: The Power of Three from Merced Hall Chapter 11: Change of Mind from Ken Hobson Part IV: Never Too Young to Achieve Financial Success Chapter 12: Never Too Early from Allison Kubala Chapter 13: Playing a Winning Game from Jake Colman Chapter 14: We Want to H.E.L.P. from David Hosei and Michael Slate Part V: A New Way to Do Business Chapter 15: Accounting for Ourselves from Tom Wheelwright Chapter 16: A New Strategy from Brian Eagleheart Chapter 17: Fast Learner from Michelle LaBrosse, PMP Chapter 18: No Limits from Terri Bowersock Part VI: Life-Changing Events Chapter 19: Greener Pastures from Stacey Baker Chapter 20: A Winning Strategy from Yong-Sik Shin Chapter 21: On the Edge of Retirement from Ronald Hoard Chapter 22: Second Chance from Michael Maritzen Robert Kiyosaki Sharon Lechter Robert Kiyosaki’s Edumercial An Educational Commercial Preface by Robert Kiyosaki I love Rich Dad’s Success Stories for the following reasons. 1. These people took action and achieved successful results. A few weeks ago, I was on a local television show in Phoenix, Arizona, where Kim and I live. The host was interviewing a reader of Rich Dad Poor Dad and me. The reader said that she had liked the book but felt it was a waste of time to read. Her complaint to me, and thousands of TV viewers, was “The book did not tell me what to do next.” I did not respond because my blood was boiling. Rather than say anything, I faked a smile and silently nodded. “So what should she do?” asked the TV host. “Find another book that will tell her what to do,” was my feeble reply. One of my pet peeves is people who only do things they are told to do. Ever since I was a little kid in school, I noticed that there were classmates of mine who did very well in school, simply by doing what the teacher told them to do. Often they were called the teacher’s pet. On the other hand, I often did things I was not told to do, or told not to do… and that got me in trouble. So early in my life, I realized that I was a person that hated to be told what to do, which is why I do my best to not tell people what to do in my books. Bookstores and libraries are filled with “how to” books. For people who love to be told how to do something, such books are just for them. Rich Dad books are not “how to” books. They are books dedicated to passing on my rich dad’s financial wisdom and guidance. They are stories about my own path of trial and error, utilizing rich dad’s wisdom, and turning my errors and experiences into my own personal lessons. Never do I expect anyone to follow my path. I simply share my lessons learned along the way and encourage others to find their own path. Rich Dad books are written for the purpose of expanding the reader’s possibilities in life, rather than becoming a specific recipe book on how to get rich. Years ago, my rich dad explained to me that there were millions of ways to get rich. It was my job to find the way that best fit me. So rather than get rich following my rich dad’s footsteps, using his recipe for success, I took his guidance and wisdom and found the path that worked best for me. And that is what this book is filled with. This book is filled with success stories of people who took rich dad’s wisdom and then found their own path to financial success. They are not people sitting around, waiting for someone to tell them what to do next. There are millions of people today, working at dead-end jobs, working hard, putting money into investments that lose money, many realizing that they may never be able to retire, yet waiting for someone to take them by the hand and show them the way out of their financial trap. Hopefully they will go to a bookstore or library and find the “how to” book that can take them by the hand and show them their way out. The people in this book did not need a “how to” book. Instead, they have written their own “how to” story on how they found their own path to financial success. 2. These people did well financially, while at the same time millions of people lost trillions of dollars. Rich Dad Poor Dad was first published in April of 1997. Some of you may recall that was the era of the dot.com bubble and mania. People who had never invested before were taking money out of the equity in their homes, their savings and putting their hard-earned money into mutual funds, stock, and even IPOs, initial public offerings, generally an investment vehicle reserved only for the rich and financially sophisticated. While I was on promotional tours between 1997 and 2003, I often warned investors about the perils of the stock market and how risky mutual funds were. On several occasions, I was slammed by financial commentators for criticizing mutual funds and the stock market and on one program was even asked to leave. Several financial magazines and newpapers openly criticized my book and my rich dad’s message. Several publications actually published lies and false statements about me, in an attempt to discredit me, and my rich dad’s message. Beginning in 2003, however, many of these same financial commentators had started acknowledging that the Rich Dad message has great merit. Today after millions of people have lost trillions of dollars, it is indeed a pleasure to read a book about people who did well financially during this extremely turbulent financial era. I am also certain there are many people, including those commentators, who wish they had followed my rich dad’s advice rather than their financial planner’s advice during this same time period. 3. Rich dad’s lessons and wisdom do work. I still hear people saying, “I’m waiting for the market to come back.” I also see financial advisors who gave bad advice before the market crash still handing out the same bad advice after the crash. They’re still saying, “Invest for the long term, diversify, buy and hold.” They also continue to say, “The market goes up on average 9 percent per year.” The sad thing is that there are still millions of investors who continue to heed that advice, even though there is overwhelming evidence that the advice did not work.