Thread: Robert Kiyosaki: 2010: The Best of Times or the Worst?

Originally Posted by GlobalWealth

apparently you are somehow taking my opinion as a personal attack on you. I am not sure why, but there are many who were hurt by RK's (and others like him) teachings. of course it is the individuals responsibility to manage their own investments and not get overleveraged. and I don't recall stating a 401k was a better option (although it could be if you were smart and actively managed your investments). fyi, I was down about 10% in my IRA (no 401k) and now am up significantly. this was due to managing my assets and not letting some overpaid, uninterested party manage my money. if that is how you manage your investments, then you deserve to lose it all. personal responsibility is key here. no one is responsible for you but you. back to the original topic and question, RK and others like him have only proven their ability to make money selling books, not practicing what they preach. I have no personal vendetta against him or any other book writer. but when I read books, I want to know the source of info is credible. recently I have read books by or about Felix Dennis, Warren Buffett, and Jim Rogers. all of these people have proven, verifiable track records. whether you agree with their methods or not, they come from a proven history of success.

Sorry, Global, I didn’t take it that way. I tend to have short visits and will in most cases post short answers.

The 401K’s that didn’t handle their own finances are the ONES that needed someone to PUSH them into doing something. Even if they made a mistake or two ...... they needed to start taking control ..... themselves.

These were the ones that RK appealed to and made his money from. In my book..... SOME action is better than NO action.

And..... Yes..... you will make some mistakes, BUT that is how you learn!

Of course........... The $100,000 houses that they bought a couple of years ago are now on the market and I'm buying them for $30,000.... So there's a happy ending to every story!

Originally Posted by Cat Man Du

Sorry, Global, I didn’t take it that way. I tend to have short visits and will in most cases post short answers.

The 401K’s that didn’t handle their own finances are the ONES that needed someone to PUSH them into doing something. Even if they made a mistake or two ...... they needed to start taking control ..... themselves.

These were the ones that RK appealed to and made his money from. In my book..... SOME action is better than NO action.

And..... Yes..... you will make some mistakes, BUT that is how you learn!

Of course........... The $100,000 houses that they bought a couple of years ago are now on the market and I'm buying them for $30,000.... So there's a happy ending to every story!

I certainly agree that those who had professionally managed 401k's needed a push. I am not sure RK was the right one to listen to, but they definitely needed to listen to someone other than their 401k administrator. They were living in a world where they expected someone to take care of them, which I believe is a fundamental problem in the US (and many other parts of the world). Too many people think that magical 'someone' will take care of them. To some that is a 401k administrator to others that is the government.

Just the other day I had a conversation with my father-in-law who wanted to know who was responsible for the junk on tv and how it is corrupting our minds. My response to him was 'you are responsible'. Without viewers, the shows don't get advertisers and without ad revenue, they cannot survive. But he thought it was the networks' and studios' responsibility to make good content. Guess what, they only make what people buy. But he thought someone else was responsible. This is typical of the collective mentality.

Back to investing in stocks, bonds, options, gold, RE, or cattle, it is the investors responsibility to determine if it is the right thing for them. While I don't agree with RK's teachings, if someone loses their life savings due to blindly following what he teaches, it is ultimately their own fault. Unfortunately, the masses have weak minds and will follow book writers like a flock of sheep follow a shephard because of his 'perception' of credibility.

As an avid reader myself, it is my job to make sure I am reading books from credible authors who can speak and teach from experience. It's like taking an entrepreneurship class at the university from a professor who has never started a business. Why would you take this class? What can he teach? The textbook principles of starting a company are useless. If you are 19 in school looking to take that entrepreneurship class, do the homework on the professor before enrolling. Warren Buffett went to Columbia solely for the reason that Ben Graham taught a finance class there. It worked out ok for him to do his homework.

Cat, back to your last paragraph, right now may be the best time in our lives to buy RE. I personally am not a RE investor anymore because I don't chose to live in one place and RE investing requires a physical presence. I have been a RE investor in the past however. RK (and others) were teaching his disciples to buy houses with $0 down and in some cases 110% LTV and walk away from the closing table with cash. Then since RE prices go up forever (some others assumptions) refinance and use the cash to put down on other properties continually leveraging and getting into more and more debt. If you can buy houses for $30k that previsously cost $100k (and I know you can and sometimes even cheaper), just remember, don't overleverage. If you have a $500k bankroll, don't but 100 houses with $5k down. You are just setting yourself up for your own asset bubble. You can overleverage yourself at any level.