Rich Dad Poor Dad - The Rich Don't Work For Money (Lesson 1)

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Read the book with me, pick it up here: https://amzn.to/2OLDCIH

Lesson One: The Rich Don’t Work For Money

Welcome to part one of my “Rich Dad Poor Dad” series. This is my continuing efforts to read the most popular books on financial independence, and summarize what I have read here. This book is divided into “lessons” which are the most logical way for me to break up these readings.

We start off with some background on the author, he grew up in a well educated household on the poor side of the tracks, however, due to zoning he ended up in the rich school, with the rich students. He and his best friend went to school together, but did not have many friends. They wanted to make money, and collected various things in the neighborhood to melt and turn into money (yes, counterfeiting - it was hilarious) but were told this was illegal.

The Lesson Begins
The Robert (author) and Mike (his friend) wanted to learn how to make money, and they knew that Mike’s dad owned a few business and setup a meeting. It is important to remember, they are about 9 years old. At that meeting, Mike’s dad offered them a trade, you work for me and I will teach you how to get rich.

30 Cents Later
Mike’s dad offered the boys a job working at the grocery store for .10 an hour, making .30 a shift. Even by that standard then, this was a pitance. Rob spoke with his dad (Poor Dad) and he was outraged, he told him to go demand more money or leave.

Waiting in Line on Saturday
Here we have the two boys waiting in line to demand their just due from Rich dad on a Saturday. Here is one of the first fantastic points he makes. Basically, Rich dad explains that this is exactly how poor people think, not just the kids. They blame Rich dad for their lack of income but never themselves for not looking elsewhere and creating their own wealth. There are 2 excellent quotes here:

Life teaches by pushing, you can either let it or pushback.
If you think I am the problem, you have to change me. If you realize you are the problem then you can change yourself.

Basically, once you realize this - it is very enlightening. This was to teach the boys that people do what they do because of fear, fear controls their decision making. His next lesson is to make the boys work without pay.

Avoiding One of Life’s Biggest Traps
People’s lives are forever controlled by 2 emotions: fear and greed

Here the lesson is the cycle that causes people to be workers instead of entrepreneurs. The way our school system is designed breeds loyal and well educated employees. It does not teach the skills needed to be financial independent and due to this money ends up being the reason we have this fear and greed. It can really control us.

The boys are brought back into a meeting, a few weeks later. Rich dad offers the boys a raise (minor at first, but growing each time - keep in mind they are making nothing at this point) and they both decline, though the temptation is strong. After a while, Rich dad explains he is proud, they were able to separate emotion and money. That is a huge step towards becoming rich.

Sensing What Others Miss
Now that they are essentially told to make money, they would need to find their own way, they look for opportunities. They take comics that are being thrown away (under a promise not to resell) where they work for free and open a comic book library. They quickly start turning a profit and for the first time they are able to exercise the following:

Sooner you forget about needing a paycheck the easier life is.

Conclusion
I am going to keep this short, this book so far is incredible. Very interesting, easy to read and really opens your eyes to the obvious truths. I love the personal conflict he has between the 2 dads.

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