"Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money--That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!" by Robert T. Kiyosaki, Sharon L. Lechter
"Cashflow Quadrant: Rich Dad's Guide to Financial Freedom" by Robert T. Kiyosaki, Sharon L. Lechter
It has been a few years since I read these books (really they are one book, split in two to double the sales revenue). Even so, I credit these two books with fundamentally changing the way I think about money, about my career, and about investing.
I believe that American's are generally ignorant when it comes to money and investing. You cannot even have a discussion with most people because their are so full of misinformation and so emotional about it, they arent open to change. Our schools do a woeful job of educating people about money even though our economic system requires a great deal of financial acumen to prosper. (The cynic in me says that this state exists for exactly this outcome: a few winners supported by a lot of losers.)
If you want to succeed in a capitalistic society, you NEED to understand capital and investing. If you believe that your house is your "best investment", then you are one of these misinformed people and you would do well to be proactive about it ASAP.
Even people who run successful businesses can be surprisingly ignorant about finance; they arent stupid, just uneducated, because there are very few venues for financial education. Most people out there who want to "teach" you about money are just there to take your money.
There may be other places to learn but I found these books worked for me. The style puts some people off but I found his "personal story" style made it easier to hear his tale. Other people think these books are "get rich quick" recipe books and are frustrated when he doesn't "tell me what to do!"- they are nothing of the kind.
These books are about how to THINK about money. The goal is to change the way you think which will change your behavior. There is nothing quick or easy about it. For me, the process has taken several years culminating with a masters degree in business. The books helped me to open my eyes, re-examine what I had been doing, what I had thought (or been told to think) and really helped me begin the continual learning process.
Money is a strange thing in our culture. We idolize it, we all think about it on some level, but we very rarely talk about it. Money is tied to power, and success and personal esteem, and those emotions make it hard for people to talk and learn from each other. To be honest, I see this even in the MBA program where we can talk about business finances but never about personal finances, which are much more important to me.
The rest of the Rich Dad series is a bit of a money machine but these first two books are essential. Do us all a favor and read them. If more people understood money better, we would have fewer problems in retirement and better voting in national elections. My main regret is that I read these books when I was 35 and not 25. Dont repeat my mistake.
