Robert Kiyosaki
COMPLETENESS: Of the 21 methods listed, Mr. Kiyosaki's materials cover none in detail. Instead, his materials are general. He markets his books and DVD's and does seminars. Though he was earlier proven to be untruthful (there was no "rich dad", nor a "poor dad"), and many of the things he originally taught were illegal (such as insider trading), he still seems to have marketed himself well, and is considered an expert on financial matters - mostly by people who know little or nothing of financial matters. His books do cover a fair range of information, but they are primarily "hype", designed to get the reader all fired up, so they will then buy into his mentoring, which we suspect is expensive.
COACH COST: Unknown. Unless you sign up for more information on it, and get on his mailing list, he does not divulge the cost. So we suspect it is quite expensive.
COACH QUALITY: Unknown. See above. But given that many of the things he taught are either illegal or just plain wrong, we would not have much faith in any mentoring he might provide. Nor have we been able to determine who does the mentoring. It concerns us that such information is kept secret.
SUCCESS RATE: Unknown. All normal sources of information indicate there are too few actual success stories to warrant further review or investigation.
BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU RATING: Satisfactory. There have only been 20 complaints filed in the last 36 months, which is better than most. Only two "gurus" have fewer complaints.
OVERALL COST: Unknown - varies between books, DVD's, seminars.
COMMENTS: When it comes to getting folks fired up to improve themselves, Kiyosaki is hard to beat. Other than that, however, we find little value in his materials. Look closely at his copyright page ("Rich Kid, Poor Kid") and you will discover Robert Kiyosaki's books are fictionalized, though he originally claimed they were true and autobiographical. Searches of records in areas where he claims to own a lot of real estate show only two properties, both in the Phoenix area. One was a very modest home where he lived until he published his first book. The second was an expensive home, that he bought for himself after he published that book. Sounds like he made no money before writing that book.
Robert Kiyosaki also claims to hold substantial interests in numerous companies, but there do not appear to be any records to substantiate this, either.
We also found over 100 inconsistencies, illegal suggestions and/or out-right lies in his book, "Rich Dad, Poor Dad." For example, he states that he participates in insider trading, which is highly illegal. And he claims you can "write off" purchases such as a Rolex watch, but according to the IRS, there are NO circumstances in which that would be legal. It would appear that his "rich dad and poor dad" are not the only part that is fiction.
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