Rich Dad's Prophecy: Why the Biggest Stock Market Crash in History Is Still Coming...and How You Can Prepare Yourself and Profit from It! [Abridged, Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

Sharon L. Lechter (Author), Robert T. Kiyosaki (Author, Reader), Jim Ward (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2002 | Series: Rich Dad's

In the near future, the vast majority of "Baby Boomers" will be on the verge of retirement - and looking to cash in on their retirement plans. This will be a major drain on cash reserves for which no-one is ready and there's every chance that peoples' lifelong savings will dramatically lose their value. Now for the good news: sensing this financial crisis is in the offing, Kiyosaki and Lechter provide a detailed financial plan aimed at helping forward-thinking people prepare for the worst - and they urge that one must start planning NOW! They cover a variety of alternative ways of generating wealth through other forms of investment, including real estate, self-employment and investing in companies.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

When the first baby boomers celebrate their 70th birthdays in 2016, according to rich dad (the author's financial mentor and father of his boyhood chum), a massive stock market crash will ensue. Joining half a dozen popular Rich Dad books, this volume continues Kiyosaki's eloquent yet simple survival instructions to investors present and future. Kiyosaki's wealth stems from lessons learned at rich dad's balance sheets, and here he deftly illustrates those complex financial truths. He encourages readers-many of whom suffer from what he sees as the dismal lack of financial education in the school system-to understand factors such as ERISA, the investor-unfriendly retirement law for which rich dad vilified the government, and the overabundance of "white bread" financial advice for the masses. Wall Street has nothing to gain by smartening up investors, Kiyosaki warns, so it's up to people to educate themselves. Those convinced that reading financial statements is an activity solely for the sophisticated and the moneyed will be reassured by Kiyosaki's analogies-Noah's ark is a primary one-as he colorfully covers a host of investing esoterica and scrutinizes details every investor should recognize. "Investing time when I had no time, and investing money when I had very little money is what made me rich," he says.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

This time, superhot financial writer Kiyosaki directs his advice to baby boomers, who are now facing retirement.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Hachette Audio; Abridged edition (October 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1586214357
• ISBN-13: 978-1586214357
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (126 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,729,696 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #28 in Books > Books on Cassette > Business > Investing
  • #57 in Books > Books on Cassette > Business > Personal Finance

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

391 of 401 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good information, but painfully repetitive., January 27, 2004

By 

Bruce Hurley (Boca Raton, Florida United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rich Dad's Prophecy: Why the Biggest Stock Market Crash in History Is Still Coming... and How You Can Prepare Yourself and Profit from It! (Hardcover)

How do you rate a book that has some excellent advice, but 90% of the text is redundant filler? I chose three stars because even one good idea is worth a few hours of your time. I think I would have enjoyed the audio CD more because it's probably more condensed.

The book warns of many financial obstacles, but has little in the way of strategies to avoid them.

Here. . . I'll save you some time:

The stock market is going to crash around 2016 because of a law called ERISA, so prepare yourself accordingly.

You can make money in up and down markets if you know what to do.

Don't trust your money to mutual fund managers.

Buy, hold, and diversify is not the great strategy you think it is.

Educate yourself financially, but if you don't, stick with buy, hold, and diversify.

Real estate is a better investment for many because you can control it more readily.

There. . . now you don't have to read the book. That'll be twelve dollars.

87 of 88 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Prophecy: Timely and Scary for Majority of Baby Boomers, October 13, 2002

By 

Ralph Smith (Destin, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rich Dad's Prophecy: Why the Biggest Stock Market Crash in History Is Still Coming... and How You Can Prepare Yourself and Profit from It! (Hardcover)

I did not expect to get much out of this book. I expected the usual litany of admonitions and suggestions available in hundreds of articles and basic books on finance for the masses. Despite that low expectation, the first chapter had me hooked.

With an aging population, turmoil in the stock markets, and lack of knowledge about how much money is needed for retirement, author Robert Kiyosaki gives specifics to support his theory about predictable problems facing those who hope to retire.

The book won't appeal to people who are satisfied with their current job and have no plans to change in the future. But for those who care about government policy and how these policies and demographics are impacting our society, the book is eye-opening as well as easy-to read.

The "rich dad, poor dad" vehicle gets old but is stiff an effective and sometimes entertaining vehicle for conveying information.

174 of 188 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Repetitive & Misled, August 17, 2004

By 

M. Kennedy (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rich Dad's Prophecy: Why the Biggest Stock Market Crash in History Is Still Coming...and How You Can Prepare Yourself and Profit from It! (Paperback)

I read Mr. Kiyosaki's first book and felt it was generally solid and a good start for the 90% of the population that is not focused on their personal finances.

This book takes his "buy income producing property" mantra a step further. He identifies a potentially real issue (massive decline in the value of the stock market) and offers his solution (buy assets that produce cashflow).

The book didn't offer a single solid idea on how to prepare for this disaster (except for repeating the idea of investing in income producing real estate over and over again). I find his brand of financial education very misleading and, based on the back pages of the book, he appears to be hocking a slew of additional "get rich quick" merchandise to gullible consumers.

He seems to equate value to the amount of cashflow that is produced and proclaims stock investments to be just paper value that can evaporate. I disagree heartly as a real estate investment is just as risky and can evaporate just as quickly.

I think he oversimplifies the process of investing in real estate rental properties. If the stock market does crash and the unprepared Baby Boomers will have to live poorly, then it is safe to assume that rental income from real estate investments could be reduced. In addition, there are hundreds of pitfalls to real estate investments that could turn them into losers that Mr Kiyosaki ignores or assumes away.

In addition, he professes to make money by receiving rental income on from his investments that provide 15-30% returns as well as profiting when he sells or re-finances the property when its value increases. He ignores that the real estate boom experienced over the last 20 years is in large part due to affluent baby boomers. If their affluence disappears, the demand for real estate will also disappear and the real estate market will experience a decline in value similar to the stock market. In the same manner, the rental income that is earned could be reduced if usage goes down or costs go up. In fact it could turn negative requiring the owner to put up more cash to save the investment.

None of this is discussed, as this world of investing is for serious real estate investors who spend all of their time on these types of opportunities. These people usually are able to avoid the bad investments and make the good investments (leaving all the bad investment to those amateurs who try to follow the book's advice).

Overall, I find it difficult to believe that there are investment opportuniuties available to 'Joe Public' that offer 20% returns without risks that justify those potential returns. I reminded of a saying of how if something sounds too good to be true ........