I watched the show on Friday night, and I feel it was a horrible piece of journalism with weak understanding of the topic, poor excuses for “victims,” and a stubborn mission to crucify Rich Dad above the truth. Anyone who has read any Rich Dad material knows what Robert Kiyosaki is really about, and he’s way too intelligent a business man to run a scam. The Rich Dad education system is a licensed product. Robert doesn’t run the programs. I don’t know much about the Whitney program, but it appears to be less well run than the other one in Canada, Tigrent Learning. If you went to a McDonald’s in India and thought the place was a dump and you found a hair in your Big Mac, would you complain to Ray Croc?
I went to the $500 3-day seminar hosted by Tigrent learning in Hamilton a few weeks ago. It was, without a doubt, the best $500 I’ve ever spent in my life. Our instructor was a great guy named “Pip.” We learned a ton of the basics of real estate investing, covering enough topics that it’s enabled me to focus my energy on further education, even if it’s not with Rich Dad. Not only did I get 3 days worth of training, I got a real estate textbook with great info plus various Rich Dad materials which keep in line with his how to be Rich philosophy. The program is so much more than just how to do real estate. The Rich Dad program emphasizes other aspects you won’t see at a regular seminar. They teach you to hire fantastic team members, such as lawyers, accountants, brokers and agents etc. They teach you asset protection, financial awareness, non-real estate investment teachings etc. I also got books on accounting, financial statements, etc, in addition to a 12 CD set which is great to listen to in the car since I have a long commute. I also got Kiyosaki’s Financial IQ book. All of that for $500?? I would have paid $500 for all the books and CD’s. Anyone that has taken any sort of education knows how much value there is in getting that much for that little cost.
I haven’t even done my first real estate transaction, but it’s already changed my life. I have more drive and passion, I’ve set lofty goals for myself and because of massive amount I’ve learned already, a real estate agent asked me what financial institution I worked for (even though I work in an engineering field). I wouldn’t have found this forum if it wasn’t for Rich Dad. I read Rich Dad Poor Dad last year, and since then, I’ve got my finances under control, we budget our money, we save $200/week for savings/investing/charities. I’ve lowered interest rates on our credit cards while increasing their limits.
Just like any other education system, not everyone gets the same out of it. The problem with persons like the woman and man interviewed on Marketplace, is that they thought it was going to be a get rich quick program. It’s not. It’s a system they’re selling. I didn’t buy into their system, because I’m one of those individuals that excels at self-learning. There’s no doubt that anyone doing the courses won’t be successful. No doubt at all. I just know I can be successful without it, so I’m going to learn what I can with the wealth of information that’s available these days. I already have a real estate agent working for me, multiple sources of private money lined up, a great lawyer that can take care of everything from real estate transactions to our 3 tier corporation and asset protection.
It’s sad that our media is so obsessed with reporting everything that’s negative. This ignorant journalist either didn’t do her homework to see how many successful and happy persons there were going through the program, or she just didn’t want to ruin her pseudo-exposé. It’s no problem though. If everyone is going to stay away from Rich Dad education now, then it means there is fewer competition for me! Haha.