FAKE: Fake Money, Fake Teachers, Fake Assets: How Lies Are Making the Poor and Middle Class Poorer

Robert Kiyosaki is legit. I know that. I kept that in mind as I read Fake and learned, for the first time, many of the concepts other reviewers have already learned in his other books.This is my first stab at truly getting educated financially. I'm from the middle class and now, at 33, find myself with a successful small business, excellent cash flow, and lots of ideas on what to do with my money... but I didn't have much confidence in any of it.UNTIL NOW.Since discovering Robert's wisdom by reading this book, I've made a lot of progress and learned a lot I didn't know. Which turned out to be most things. I'd seen a lot of "conspiracy theory"-type information online about what's going on in the world banking system, but in hearing it laid out from Robert in this book somehow validated it for me. I think it's because we're both in the same industry of helping people get real education without going deeper into debt to do it! I can see so much of myself in this wacky, big-hearted Asian American guy with purple glasses. I can literally do what he has done in his lifetime with my own business and assets. So I'm going to try!As a result of reading this book (I've actually got about 80 pages left to read as I write this), I finally feel empowered to take 100% responsibility for my financial situation. This is a big deal for me as I married young and trusted my now ex-husband and his "save EVERYTHING for retirement" rubber-chicken-dinner-going parents for financial advice.Bad move... divorce hit and I lost almost all my cash to my ex husband ($2M) -- so I could keep my business, which had generated all of that cash. That enabled me to stop paying him a paycheck forever... but it meant being basically broke for a few months while the business generated revenue to replenish its storehouses a bit. It freaked me out at first. I mean, what if the business failed? What if I needed the guy I'd just fired via divorce?That was all fear talking. Now I realize how fortunate I truly am -- business is booming again! And thanks to Robert, I know how valuable a stable business is. What a REAL ASSET it is. When I was married I left all the money management up to my husband who had everything in ETFs... fake assets.Getting divorced forced me to gain my own understanding of the financial world and BOY OH BOY was the timing perfect... I can't imagine how hard it would be to unlearn all of the FAKE financial knowledge if I'd been brainwashed like the people who're still attending fancy dinners put on by their wealth managers. They'll learn in their own time too. We all do!I also enrolled in Rich Dad's real estate investing course for $400 or so; what a deal for the money, too -- it comes with 6 live group sessions. I got my questions answered live by the instructor on the first call too. I own one rental property right now and am taking steps to expand that portfolio. THIS is the power of knowledge! It's just confidence. The more you know about what's REALLY going on in the world banking system, the easier it is to understand your own financial situation... and it's easier to take the steps to fix it if it's a mess.NOW... I'm an online "real world" education provider myself... and I'd be remiss if I didn't share the small handful of things that really irritated me about this book:-- REPETITIVENESS. A quality editor or ghostwriter could have helped Robert make this book more concise and less choppy. There are a LOT of repeat charts (that I also find hard to read) and quotes. As someone new to Robert's stuff, I didn't find this as irritating as a veteran reader might've since it helped me cement my understanding.-- TYPOS. Nobody's perfect (trust me; my blog is about proofreading and I KNOW this ;-))... but there are a LOT of typos in this book. More than someone making as much bank as Robert should have in his book. Hiring a proofreader is not as pricy as you might think. Even first-time authors who maybe can't afford both editing and proofreading are still better hiring a proofreader than not having professional editorial assistance at all.Some of the Q&A questions were so poorly answered they should have been left out. And Robert pasted in looooong links to videos we have no other choice but to try to type in. I tried to type in one for a 45-minute video on page 378 he said I could watch if I went to this long-ass link... but I typed the WHOLE THING IN to find it doesn't exist. I really wanted to watch that video! I'm sure it's somewhere. I bought the guy's book (Tax-Free Wealth) anyway and plan to read it next.All that to say, I still HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book. I have recommended it so much already and will continue to do so. For the first time in my life, I feel confident about my financial future -- and it's because it's in MY hands. "Real financial education," as Robert so often calls it, really does matter. I always tell my students that "learning changes everything"... and well, it's way cool to see that truth playing out in real time before my very eyes!!Even if you really can't afford this $14 book, go on YouTube to Robert's channel (Rich Dad Channel) and learn from him there. But if you're struggling financially and wondering how the heck you're going to maintain the energy to outrun inflation on a personal level in the long haul... you can't afford NOT to shell out the $14. INVEST in learning. The time's gonna pass anyway.

Before reading FAKE, people should read RICH DAD POOR DAD. Robert Kiyosaki is a very sharp free thinking man. His books train people to think in a more open way about there educations/ degrees/ jobs as employees vs training oneself to be a boss vs someone who has a job. He makes a strong opinion on the education system as a whole, and how does not train people in the ways of making money!

This is a must read!! I will share this book with my kids

I'll be up front: I have a PhD and I am (or at least have been) part of the what Kiyosaki talks about in this book. Now on to the review.I've read several of the Rich Dad books, including the original Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Some of them are repetitive and that's a theme you'll see in reviews of pretty much all of them. That's fair. In Fake, there is some repetition from previous books but it's not obnoxious. It's actually kind of necessary. Matter of fact, if you've never read a Kiyosaki book before, it's beneficial (you should at least read Rich Dad, Poor Dad, in my humble opinion).As far as content goes, I've seen some of the other reviews, so I'll comment there next. There is a lot of internal repetition. Kiyosaki reiterates a lot in this book. I know that annoys some people. We have to understand how learning happens. It happens through repetition. You'll see the same charts and graphs half a dozen times throughout. You'll see direct quotes from earlier chapters. It's through this process that important points sink in, especially if you are reading the book little by little. On the other hand, the editing is indeed quite poor. The grammatical mistakes are far too numerous (that's why I gave it 4 stars, I'm not picky about this stuff, it's just far beyond that tolerance threshold).Fake is written in plain speak. That's what I appreciate. Yes, more complicated detail and jargon could be used, but again, someone new to this area of reading will be overwhelmed quickly. The good news is, Kiyosaki recommends additional reading (some of which I've already read and I agree with him wholeheartedly) where you can find some more in depth explanations (and plenty of financial industry jargon). We all have to start somewhere. This is a good place to start.What this book is not: A step-by-step guide to becoming wealthy. The reality is, there are plenty of books that claim to be that and none of them actually are. Kiyosaki is quite clear that this book is NOT such a guide. It's a guide to recognizing that most of our education is worthless when it comes to finances (and other things) and gives somewhat of a road map to get a real financial education (yes, he does put in shameless plugs to other Rich Dad products, I would too if I was him).Something I appreciate about Kiyosaki is, despite his critical outlook on a lot of people, he has the same criticism of himself. He admits to his failures (and even said how stupid he was to even try some of the things he did). Too often, successful people toot their own horn about how wonderful they are and gloss over their past mistakes. Kiyosaki does not do this. He's probably one of the more down to earth writers out there.Admittedly, my two favorite chapters are the last two (How to prepare for a brighter future and How to soar with eagles...in a world full of chickens).Overall, I do think this is a worthwhile read, even if you've been reading similar books for awhile. I think maximum benefit comes to those who are first waking up to the realities of our education and financial system, but that doesn't mean it's a waste for others.

WORTH READINGS

Todos sus libros son buenísimos!

The book is an eye-opener for me! A must read for everyone who wants to escape the matrix and wants to live a free life

Excellent read. Great quality paperback

Excelente