“Rich Dad Poor Dad” has been a New York Times best-selling book for over six years and tells a story about Robert Kiyosaki and his life growing up with “two dads”.  He talks about how these father figures helped shape his thoughts about money and investing while also looking at the different types of mindsets between social classes. Now, after being on the New York Times best-seller list for that long, the question is not “is the book good,” the real question: “is the book still relevant?” 

Kiyosaki explains that the concept of income is different for everyone. For most people, their profession is their income, while a person of means views their assets as income. This means money is then spent differently and a smart way to handle it, is to reinvest any excess income back into your assets. With long term financial planning, more income should not be your only objective. Look for more assets and opportunities as those are key elements in your planning. You should also work on keeping your expenses low and reducing your liabilities. 

“Work to learn, do not work to earn,” is another lesson Kiyosaki talks about. View every opportunity as a chance to learn something. Whether it be about accounting and investing, sales and marketing, leadership, writing or anything you find interesting; find a career that can teach you these skills and never stop learning. He also makes a point of the mindset to have when entering the market. When it comes to investing, don’t jump right into it. You should never follow the crowd or try to time the market. Profits are made when you buy, not when you sell so  take the time to learn the basics. 

Basic financial principles are universal, and that is why I think this book is still relevant to today’s economy. “Rich Dad Poor Dad”, works to change the readers mindset from spending to saving, which is a timeless lesson. Finance and investing is not like most sectors. It is not like IT where things are ever changing and new practices are put into place. It is stable and stagnate and by learning the basics and having the right mindset, your view of investing will always be relevant.