Rich Dad's Increase Your Financial IQ: Get Smarter with Your Money (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: leveraging your money, budgeting your money, financial predators, Social Security, Donald Trump, Marine Corps (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

For years, Robert Kiyosaki has firmly believed that the best investment one can ever make is in taking the time to truly understand how one's finances work. Too many people are much more interested in the quick-hitting scheme, or trying to find a short-cut to real wealth. As Kiyosaki has preached over and over again, one has to truly under the process of how money works before one can start out on trying to escape the daily financial Rat Race.

Now, in this latest book in the popular Rich Dad Poor Dad series, Kiyosaki lays out his 5 key principles of Financial Intelligence for all to understand. In INCREASE YOUR FINANCIAL IQ, Kiyosaki provides real insights on these key steps to wealth:

o How to increase your money -- how to assess what you're really worth now, what your prospects are, and how to start mapping out your financial future.

o How to protect your money -- for better or for worse, taxes are a way of life. Kiyosaki shows you that "it's not what you make....it's what you keep."

o How to budget your money -- everybody wants to live large, but you have to learn how to live within your budget. Kiyosaki shows you how you can.

o How to leverage your money -- as you build your financial IQ, knowing how to put your money to work for you is a crucial step.

o How to improve your financial information -- Kiyosaki shows you how to accelerate your wealth as you learn more and more.

About the Author

Robert and his wife Kim live in Arizona.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Business Plus (March 26, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446509361
• ISBN-13: 978-0446509367
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,595 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

104 of 108 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mediocre Book for Fans--OK for Kiyosaki Newbies, March 26, 2008

By	Paul Gallagher (Fairview, NC United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have been a great fan of Kiyosaki for some years now, and have made good money following his principles, so I owe him a debt of gratitude. Also, I have read the greater part of his increasing panoply of books.

This book was quite disappointing. Like most of Kiyosaki's books, this one was filled with repetition. Now, I do subscribe to the theory that "repetition is the mother of learning," and so a bit of repetition to reinforce an important point is quite acceptable, and indeed beneficial.

But this book is full of mind-numbing repetition, and the content of its nearly 200 pages could easily have been boiled down to 50 pages.

There may be a clue as to the reason why this book was written on page 89 where the author says, "One of the benefits of being an author is that when I want a new liability [read: luxury item], I first write a book, like this one, and the royalties from the book pay for the liability."

That might indeed explain why this particular book was written.

For those who have already read Kiyosaki's books, especially the first three-- RDPD, Cashflow Quadrant, and Rich Dad's Guide to Investing-- this book would be quite superfluous. On the other hand for those totally new to Kiyosaki's work, this book may serve as a valuable primer.

Still, there are a few excellent "take-aways" from this book:

1) The world no longer runs on Money (a medium of exchange backed by real value--traditionally silver and gold, or other hard assets), but on Currencies (totally fictitious media of exchange based on debt and manipulation by central banks). Historically, every currency has eventually gone to its intrinsic value--ZERO. Therefore, it is essential to NEVER SAVE A CURRENCY, but to keep a currency moving, buying real assets which generate cash flow, or buying items with a real intrinsic value. This insight, mentioned in other Kiyosaki books as well, is an extremely valuable bit of information, and is the one big gem to take away.

2) The greatest "asset" in today's world of economic change and volatility is Financial Intelligence itself. Only by developing "Financial IQ," will one be able to weather the storms which are shaping up on the world economic horizon. And the time to get educated is RIGHT NOW!

3) Kiyosaki's grouping of the five types of Financial IQ is also worthwhile, and gives a workable template for developing and IMPLEMENTING a greater financial awareness: 1) Making more money; 2) Protecting your Money; 3) Budgeting your money (there are some unique insights in this one!); 4) Leveraging your money; 5) Improving your financial information.


All in all, this book is useful for Kiyosaki newbies, although even they may be put off by the repetition. I think long-time Kiyosaki fans may be disappointed.

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Little new information - go back and read his other books, April 23, 2008

By	P. Baird (Kenosha, WI USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was really disappointed by this book. There's some new (or at least new perspective for me) items, but they could probably be condensed down to a single chapter. But then Kiyosaki couldn't really sell a book of just 1 chapter, so instead, he drifts off topic (a lot), and wrote a lot of filler material.

I don't know what he repeats more often -- his relationship with Donald Trump, or how (in his opinion), going off the gold standard was a bad idea. Neither of which, by the way, increased my Financial IQ.

There is a lot of filler. There are stories about the Merchant Marines. About Vietnam. About his surfing wallet empire. Chapters and chapters and chapters of this -- maybe, if I was in the right mood, it might be interesting. But *so* much of this has nothing to do with Finanace.. I can't help avoid thinking that Kiyosaki wanted another to buy another Bentley, so he wrote this book to pay for it...

Oh, and there's several instances where he makes glaring math errors or logic errors. These further detract from thinking of this as a "finance" book.

Pick another book. I wish I had.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Kiyosaki: Get rich by getting smart, April 12, 2008

By	Jacquelyn Lynn (Florida) - See all my reviews

In what may be his best book to date, Robert Kiyosaki challenges his readers to wise up about their own financial situation and what they need to know to become financially intelligent because, he says, if you can increase your financial IQ, you can become richer.

Increase Your Financial IQ: Get Smarter with Your Money is classic Kiyosaki: part story-telling and part textbook with plenty of motivation and no tolerance for excuses. Kiyosaki doesn't tell you what to do; he tells you how to find out what you need to know so you can make good decisions for yourself. He writes: "It is not real estate, stocks, mutual funds, businesses, or money that makes a person rich. It is information, knowledge, wisdom, and know-how, a.k.a. financial intelligence, that makes one wealthy."

Kiyosaki details the five financial IQs: Making more money, protecting your money, budgeting your money, leveraging your money, and improving your financial information. The book closes with practical applications for developing your financial IQ.

Kiyosaki challenges the reader to develop a true understanding of money and the rules of the money game-as well as of the fact that the rules change over time. This isn't a feel-good, "do as I tell you and all will be fine" book. It's a book about empowerment. Kiyosaki clearly intends to provoke the reader into taking action-something he does well. It's a must-read for anyone interested in improving their financial circumstances.

Jacquelyn Lynn
author, The Entrepreneur's Almanac: Fundamentals, Facts and Figures You Need to Run and Grow Your Business