“The main reason people struggle financially is because they have spent years in school but learned nothing about money. The result is that people learn to work for money… but never learn to have money work for them.”

This bold statement on the back cover of Rich Dad Poor Dad was very intriguing. I had heard a lot about Robert Kiyosaki’s bestselling book, which promised to reveal what rich people taught their children about money that poor and middle-class people did not.

I was eager to find out if the publicity hype surrounding it was warranted, so it was one of the first books that I read in my search for ways to become financially successful.

I have spoken to hundreds of persons who are, just like I was many years ago, financially distressed and desperate for solutions to their money problems. Unfortunately, too many of them are looking for quick fixes to their financial woes. The question often asked is, “How can I make some more money fast?”

When I inform advice seekers that the most effective way of curing what ails them financially is to educate themselves about money and apply the lessons they learn, sometimes they fail to see how this will help them to address their immediate concerns.

They don’t realise the tremendous value that will return to them if they invest a little time and money in their own financial training.

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It’s what you know, not what you earn

Kiyosaki helped me to understand why many people are not able to get ahead financially, thinking that having more money will solve their problems. “Few realise,” he explained, “that it’s their lack of financial education that is the problem.” Kiyosaki pointed out that “one of the reasons that the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the middle class struggles in debt, is because the subject of money is taught at home, not in school.”

Parents who know nothing about money can only pass on their bad financial habits and poor money mindsets to their children. Our school system concentrates on teaching students how to work for money, but not how to make money work for them. Struggling with money is a way of life for even highly educated professionals, because they have never learned the basic financial skills that are necessary for success.

As a child, Kiyosaki was searching for the secrets of financial success and was lucky to be mentored by his best friend’s father. Most wealthy people, he discovered, taught their children important lessons about money that help them to carry on their fortunes. In Rich Dad Poor Dad, he shared many of those principles and introduced ground-breaking ideas that gave me a completely new outlook on money.

Kiyosaki’s father, the ‘poor dad’, had a Ph.D., while his mentor, his ‘rich dad’, had not even finished eighth grade. Over the years, he observed their opposing viewpoints about money and eventually saw how their thoughts impacted their financial status in different ways.

Financial education is priceless

‘Poor dad’ said that money didn’t matter and encouraged him to “study hard so you can find a good company to work for.” On the other hand, ‘rich dad’ declared that money was power and inspired him to “study hard so you can find a good company to buy.” Kiyosaki realised that his poor dad suffered financially “not because of the amount of money he earned, which was significant, but because of his thoughts and actions.”

Lesson number one that Kiyosaki revealed was that the poor and middle class work for money, while the rich have money work for them. ‘Rich dad’ taught him that most people are motivated to work hard as employees because there are afraid of not having any money. Then when they get paid, greed pushes them to buy more and more things with it.

This fear and greed combination, he explained, is what traps most people in a ‘rat race’ where they “get up, go to work, pay bills” in an endless cycle. ‘Rich dad’ showed him that if he stopped working just for a wage and instead worked to learn, his brain would uncover many methods of earning money on his own. “The moment you see one opportunity, you will see them for the rest of your life.”

I acquired many priceless insights from Kiyosaki’s stories about his two dads, and was inspired by his powerful declaration, “Money comes and goes, but if you have the education about how money works, you gain power over it and can begin building wealth.” I resolved after reading this book to make it my business to learn as much as possible about money.

Next week, we will look at some more important lessons from Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Poor Dad.

Copyright © 2011 Cherryl Hanson Simpson. No reproduction without written consent.

Originally published in The Daily Observer,  February 10, 2011

See other articles on Financial Education:

Places to Learn about Money, Financial Education for all Jamaicans

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Cherryl is a financial consultant and coach, founder of Financially S.M.A.R.T. Services. See more of her work at www.financiallyfreenetwork.com and www.financiallysmartonline.com. Contact Cherryl