This is my very first read of a spirtual book and it’s a really good one to begin with too. To say that it’s “mind-boggling” is a contradiction to the book because the book suggests that over-thinking is a disease (you’ll learn why when you read it). The Power of Now emphasizes on not being stuck in the past or future but to be aware of the present moment. Although that previous sentence pretty much summarized the whole book, the author has given a deeper understanding of what “now” is about. The book is written in a question and answer format and the contents of this book took me a long time to digest as I go through some jargon that I am unfamiliar with. What’s “being”? What’s “unmanifested”?

I’d highly recommend this book as you explore your spiritual side and become aware of your present moment. It’s a book that you may want to re-read multiple times to heighten your “being”.

Interesting, I never thought of Donald as one who’d share his spotlight because all his books only feature his photos. Guess I’m wrong.

Sypnosis:
“In Why We Want You To Be Rich — Two Men • One Message, Trump and Kiyosaki take an alternative approach by not writing a conventional how-to-book on investing money to secure one’s financial future. Instead, the book gives insight to the reader on how the authors think, why they win financially, and how they see the world of money, business and investing. Through the eyes and experiences of Trump and Kiyosaki, the reader gains knowledge on how to improve their financial future.”

There are mixed feelings for “Why We Want You to be Rich” when I googled for more information about it (not much at the time of this writing, I’ve only found one magazine review):

“Impressive resumes (Kiyosaki and Trump). Alas, unimpressive book. Why We Want You to Be Rich is a thinly veiled infomercial for more financial-advice products from Kiyosaki, Trump and their minions. They sell positive thinking and can-do haziness — specific details cost extra.” – Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, http://www.kiplinger.com/personalfinance/features/archives/2006/10/trump.html

Here are some customer reviews of Why We Want You to be Rich: Two Men – One Message at Amazon.com:

“What these two titans of money have to teach is something everyone can take in and benefit from — regardless of your age, race, education, or current level of wealth. The mindset of money is what they know better than anyone, and what they teach better than everyone. Ignore this one at your own expense. Otherwise, buy it and spend time inside the heads of America’s top two wealth-creation heavy weights.”- Clint

“I bought this book last night at my local Borders bookstore and will be ordering more from Amazon.com to pass out.” – Cyberman

“Effort level from both of them are so low, I suspect 40% of the book is a cut and paste job, especially Robert’s half. If you expect this book to reach the level of the Art of the Deal and the Art of the Comeback, think again.” – TS “TS”

“”You can have everything in the world that you want, as long as your willing to help as many people as it takes get what they want” This little tenent might help realign you with a healthy way to look at “money”. I found this book informative and would reccomend it to those who want to look at a bigger picture.” – Mr. Cashflow

From all the reviews I’ve read, most negative reviews are made by
1) Trump haters;
2) Kiyosaki haters;
3) People who claims buying these books make the authors rich

Like all Kiyosaki books, this is definitely not a how-to book so I can understand why some dislike the book as there was no specific how-to. On the other hand, about the claims of buying books like these will make the authors rich… isn’t that how the world works after all? We buy CDs, DVDs and movie tickets to make celebrities rich, we buy magazines to make the publishers rich, we subscribe to phone lines to make the service provider rich. Where there’s demand, there’s supply. So should you buy the book? I’ll leave it to you to decide.

Audiobook Version

Upon buying this book, I’d say I’ve passed one of the criterion of being a millionaire. Frugal. I bought this book at Payless Bookshop at RM13 (that’s about USD$4) when the normal retail price is about RM40 (around USD$11).

The Millionaire Next Door showcases the surprising facts of millionaires. You’d be really surprised to learn where millionaires live, where they shop, how do they invest, what cars they own, how they become rich and so on. These facts are based on thorough research by two professors, Thomas J. Stanley and William D Danko. For a person like me that usually finds numbers, percentages and comparisons boring actually found this a very interesting read, I especially love the chapters on “Economic Outpatient Care”.

Economic Outpatient Care (EOC) refers to substantial economic gifts some parents give their children and grandchildren. I’ve always wondered whether children of the rich will turn out spoilt like Paris Hilton or business smart like Ivanka Trump, The Millionaire Next Door mentions that economic outpatients do not accumulate as much wealth as their parents. The parents giving economic gifts do not have as much wealth as the parents whose children are financially independent. In this connection, the children who receives substantial economic gifts generally accumulates less wealth than those who do not or receive fewer economic gifts.

The main point of this book is that the millionaires are maybe your next door neighbour who are inconspicuous with their wealth, in fact, that’s probably why they are rich in the first place. So the next time you see a person driving the latest BMW series or has an enormous home, you can’t really judge whether they are rich till you look at their numbers. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is building wealth or who has no money sense at all .

Get the text version:

“The books that help you most are those which make you think the most.” – Theodore Parker

Rich Dad, Poor Dad was one of the books that has the biggest influence in my life. It didn’t only inspire me to control my finances, but it also changed my perception of things. Kiyosaki can be seen as an iconoclast, what he says makes sense but goes head-to-head with our traditional ideals. It was my first book on finance and that was all it took to sprout my interest in personal development, business and finance.

“Rich Dad, Poor Dad” starts off talking about Kiyosaki’s childhood and how he met his Rich Dad. He has two dads, his real dad and rich dad (his best friend’s father). His real dad, a highly educated, high-ranking education officer gave his son advise on life: “go to school, get good grades, and then find a safe secure job”. Whereas his rich dad, who dropped out in elementary school, offered him advise to: “go to school, graduate, build businesses and become a successful investor”. Both dads had conflicting thoughts on the subject of finances, Kiyosaki eventually chose to follow his rich dad’s path as he saw how both dads ended up: His educated dad ended up in debt, had little time for his children during his working years, didn’t have enough funds to retire on; his rich dad built a business empire in Hawaii, spent lots of time with his children, left his wealth to his children, owned lots of properties.

The book simplifies finances in a story-telling way… too simplified, in fact, that some people do not agree with Robert Kiyosaki. It’s a book meant to inspire, not a how-to book. All in all, if the book opened up your mind to an alternate way of living, or make you aware of another possibility, then it has helped. It has for me, and I highly recommend you get a copy.

Buy Rich Dad Poor Dad here