Poor Dad/Rich Dad

Wow… what a book! The entire book is about two dads, a rich dad and a poor dad. The boy’s real dad is poor but highly educated and his friend’s rich dad did not even finish the eighth grade. Both dads were strong, appealing and powerful. Both dads provided advice, but their advice was rarely the same or equal in terms.

For example, one dad would say, "The love of money is the root of all evil." The other, "The lack of money is the root of all evil."

As with most dads, the poor dad wanted to teach his son that having a lot of money would not make him happy, while the rich dad could only think of making money and how to use others to get it.

Both dads were successful in their chosen jobs, earning sizeable incomes. Yet the poor dad continued to struggle financially his entire life, while the rich dad becomes one of the richest men in the state. The rich dad died leaving millions of dollars to his family, charities and his church. The poor dad just left bills to be paid.

The boy, being influenced by two strong dads was difficult because he wanted to be a good son and listen, but the two dads rarely said the same thing. The difference in their financial points of view were so great that he began thinking for long periods of time about what each was saying.

Instead of simply accepting or rejecting their opinions, he found himself comparing and finally choosing for myself. All he could see was the rich man was not rich yet and the poor man not yet poor. Both were just starting out on their careers, and both were struggling with money and families.

Much of his time was spent looking back and asking himself questions such as, "Why does he say that?" and then asking the same question of the other dad's statement. It would have been much easier to simply say, "Yeah, he's right. I agree with that." On the other hand, to simply reject the point of view by saying, "The old man doesn't know what he's talking about." Instead, having two admired dads forced him to...