I’m talking about Robert Kiyosaki — the author of the Rich Dad, Poor Dad series — and his
great boardgame, Cashflow 101. You can still buy this game from his own site and from Amazon.

I remember going to a couple of Cashflow 101 games when I was an undergrad. There were about 7 or 8 of us, I was the only student, and it would take only a couple of hours before someone made it out of the rat race. It was fun, a little inspiring. I was about to organize a Cashflow group on my own, and even went to buy the Cashflow game once myself - the first time my order was misplaced, but then I never got around to trying to fix it and put the order back in again. Probably because I just didn’t have enough left on my Mastercard at the time!

These days it seems some investors are not as impressed with Kiyosaki as they were four years ago. For whatever reasons, some don’t agree with all of his basic ideas - some people aren’t interested in real estate - some don’t think the quest for wealth should occupy centre stage in the same way as it does for Kiyosaki. What about you? Did you ever read any of the Rich Dad books? Why/ why not? It seems that sooner or later, investors always try to come to terms with Rich Dad:). It shows that Rich Dad, Poor Dad has become a classic just like Malkiel’s Random Walk Down Wall Street. I would spend a few afternoons in the public library devouring his book, taking notes on it, and coming back to finish it all up.

I’ve read many different kinds of finance and investment books, but I think that what Rich Dad did for me was make the whole wealthbuilding process intelligible. (This might not be saying alot, since I know the book was written in an overly simplistic format:).) What I mean is that I got that “a-ha” feeling: when you finally figure something out, or when the bigger picture clicks. I think I was able to see a road map of some sort after reading the first five books in his series. But I haven’t kept up with all the books that he writes with his partners or which his colleagues write under the Rich Dad brand.

It would be great to hear from other Kiyosaki fans. Have you gone to any of his lectures? Do you still play Cashflow 101 or 201 or participate on any of the RichDad forums? The game is expensive, but I remember it being well worth it.