A Book Review of Rich Dad， Poor Dad

（天津外國語大學，天津 300201）

Rich Dad， Poor Dad which is written by Robert T. Kiyosaki is a best-seller. The theory of managing financial affairs in this book inspires people from all walks of life. Robert combs through some pieces of information on the different methods to manage money between the middle class and the rich. By comparing them， he gives some advice on how to be rich.

Robert recounts his childhood memory with his two dads through the eye of a little boy. By a twist of fate， the boy attends the school where the rich parents send their kids. The idea of being rich springs to his mind， so he asks his own dad how to get rich without any response. Mike becomes his only friend in their school because they both desire to be rich. They don’t know how to earn money properly until they learn from Mike’s father， the rich dad. The way the rich dad teaches is absolutely unique.

When the rich dad hears the two kids long to learn about making money， he appears to be surprised. He gives them an offer that he won’t teach them unless they work for him. Refusing to answer any questions， he presents them a choice， “Take it or leave it？”

The two boys with strong desire for being rich are determined to grab the chance. They work three hours in a grocery store every day and get a small amount of money in return. Several days pass， the boy resolves to quit since it annoys him to work hard but to learn nothing.

The rich dad has expected that situation before. And he loses no time in explaining his theories to the boys. When the boy complains angrily that he’s learned nothing and earned too little， the rich dad responds to him calmly， “In less than a month， you sound like most of my employees who I’ve fired. How do you know that I’ve not taught you anything？”

The rich dad believes that life is the best teacher of all. Life cannot talk to anyone but can push people around. Each push seems to wake people up to learn something useful. Few people learn the lesson and go forward. At the same time， most people who live all life safely and die bored get angry with the challenge and then give up. Sometimes they desire winning but the fear of losing is more powerful than the excitement of winning. The rich dad is glad of the boy’s anger due to ten cents per hour since passion is combined with anger and love.

However， fear and greed direct most people， especially the middle class. The fear of being without money motivates them to work hard while the greed of being paid more drives the process continually. Instead of thinking reasonably， they react emotionally. Money has controlled their emotions even their souls. Men experience ups and downs following economic booms and depressions. Only wise people can be richer through changes. For example， although lottery winners become rich suddenly， they are poor after a short period. The intelligent mind is based on “financial literacy”.

Financial literacy includes distinguishing the difference between an asset and a liability. Income and expense become important parts in our daily lives. Assets make us profit and sometimes become our income. But liabilities， including mortgage debt and credit-card debt， become potential expense and make us lose money. In short， assets help us put money in our pockets but liabilities take money out of them.

Most people， like the boy’s poor dad， regard the house as an asset， but rich dad considers it as a liability. A bigger house， in fact， brings people bigger expenses including mortgage， taxes and so on. What’s more， a great amount of loan incurs great financial pressure and the lack of investments. It seems that their expenses keep up with their income， with the result that they are unable to invest in assets.

That’s why the middle class are always in a financial struggle but the rich get richer. The middle class put their wages into the house instead of investing in assets. The rich， however， use the asset to generate more incomes than expenses and the remainder is reinvested into assets. The incomes continue to grow following increasing assets.

In addition to the difference between assets and liabilities， tax should be taken seriously. Most people work for any others but themselves. They work for the company owners， for taxes and for banks about their mortgage. The story of Robin Hood encourages the poor to punish the rich. Therefore， income tax becomes permanent in the United States with the adoption of the 16th Amendment to the Constitution. As times goes on， the government’s appetite for money is so great that they levy on the middle class either. Afterwards， the middle class work for the government until they earn enough to cover their taxes. Hence， they get taxed firstly and live with the left.

Nevertheless， the rich find the protection of a corporation with their financial knowledge because the income-tax rate of the corporation is less than the individual income-tax rate. It is a legal way for a corporation to spend everything they have and pay tax with the left.

As the rich dad says， “The poor and the middle class work for money while the rich have money work for them.” The rich can not only distinguish the difference between assets and liabilities using “financial literacy”， focus on the tax but acquire useful information which flies all around the world at the speed of light. For example， when economy in some areas is terrible， a rich man buys the house with “for sale” sign in the price far below its value. After Depression， he sells in the price three times higher than before. If people tend to play it safe and only invest in secure investments， less gain is returned to them. There are lots of risk that should be managed rather than be dropped out.

The road of being rich seems too long with too many hills to climb. Consequently， some principles can be available to you. A determined purpose is necessary of “I don’t want to work for all life and I want money to work for me. ” In addition， you’d better invest in education which helps you know about investments before investing assets. May you choose friends carefully and learn from them consciously. Besides， acquiring knowledge from history， you can find that Colonel Sanders gets rich after he loses everything in his 60s. In a word， action always beats inaction. The foremost way towards a success is to invest assets with your passion and financial literacy， focus on the tax and acquire useful information in the market.

作者簡介：高樂陶，女，漢族，天津人，天津外國語大學2年級在讀，英語翻譯專業。