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Robert Kiyosaki Why the Rich Get Richer

Robert Kiyosaki, Why the Rich Get Richer

Keeping Your Business Ideas Fresh

by Robert Kiyosaki

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Posted on Thursday, May 24, 2007, 12:00AM

Sometimes life just isn't fair.

When I was growing up in the 1960s, my parents said to me, "Listen to your elders. You need to learn to respect their wisdom. Someday when you're older, young people will listen to you." So I listened to my parents and grew up respecting the wisdom of those older than I was.

But that notion has been turned upside down: Nowadays, people my age need to listen to and respect the wisdom of people who are younger than we are.

Ideas from an Earlier Age

In business, success often depends upon the relative age of your ideas. And today, people of all ages are in trouble because their ideas aren't just old, they're obsolete.

One example of an old idea is that of the traditional job. Jobs are a centuries-old concept created during the industrial revolution. Despite the reality that we're now deep in the Information Age, many people are studying for, or working at, or clinging to the Industrial Age idea of a safe, secure job.

Now people aren't just losing their jobs -- their jobs are migrating to foreign countries or disappearing altogether. As Alan Blinder, an economist and former vice chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, says, "A new industrial revolution -- communication technology that allows services to be delivered electronically from afar -- will put as many as 40 million American jobs at risk of being shipped out of this country in the next decade or two." That's double the number of U.S. workers in manufacturing today.

In spite of such alarming figures, our schools still program kids to look for jobs. Advising people to go to school to learn to be an employee is as obsolete as advising young people to become peasants and work for a landlord. People need to be trained to be investors and entrepreneurs, not employees.

Obsolete Every 18 Months

My point is this: In a rapidly changing world, nothing is more dangerous than an idea whose time has come and gone. Just look at how Amazon.com has changed the world of brick-and-mortar booksellers such as Borders and Barnes & Noble, or how Skype is tearing down monster corporations like AT&T, or how Napster shot a torpedo into the record industry. Where do you think the people who work for those Industrial Age employers will be in 10 years?

As I said, people aren't losing their jobs -- jobs and companies are disappearing. I'm glad I listened to my rich dad and became an entrepreneur rather than the employee my poor dad wanted me to be.

Most people today realize that knowledge is doubling every 18 months. Does that mean that we now become obsolete every 18 months? Maybe so. Personally, it makes me feel like I need to assign an expiration date to my ideas, and update them regularly.

Many people my age are in serious financial trouble because they have old, Industrial Age ideas that they never update -- wanting job security, counting on a pension for life, relying on Social Security and Medicare -- while attempting to survive in the Information Age.

That's a mistake. Much of my company's revenue comes from the web, even though I remain a technophobe. My company survives because I've learned to respect the ideas of people younger than me, and recognize when my wisdom is obsolete.

Timeless Business Ideas

Although many business ideas go out of date every day, there are some that are timeless and essential regardless of the era we're in. Here are a few:

• Be passionate about your products and what your brand stands for. Brands die if the leader's passion dies, or if the leader's passion is simply to make money.

• Build a community. Good entrepreneurs are community builders, actively involved with their communities and dedicated to the community's well being. If you're dedicated to your community, it will be dedicated to you.

• Communicate clearly. Speak in the language of your customers. Don't attempt to baffle them with jargon in an attempt to appear smarter than they are.

• Tell it like it is, and don't be a phony. In business, there are too many people who will say anything to get their hands on your money.

• Be human. Don't be afraid to say, "I don't know" or "Can you help me?" If you're a good leader, people will be more than happy to help you build your business.

Now more than ever, we all need to be careful about whom we listen to. Just because someone is older than you no longer means they're wiser. Their ideas may have been good yesterday, but tomorrow they might be obsolete.

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302 Comments

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  • Yahoo! Finance User - Friday, June 22, 2007, 8:58PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    I'm giving this article five stars - being seriously wealthy does carry the risk of having jealous rivals - just look at the two below me! Phew!

  • JohnK - Tuesday, June 19, 2007, 3:26AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 2/5

    Oh yea, real estate is obsolete! How could I have been so stupid! There's new land to be had . . . everyday? On the moon? The extra star is for simple common sense, which many people don't have (and if you're looking to RK for that common sense, you are in trouble). RK's books cover all of this, he is simply recycling his "obsolete" ideas ( no NEW advise?). A smart man whom doesn't deserve the "expert" title (sorry RK).

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Tuesday, June 12, 2007, 1:56PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    another piece of crap from RK! also, why can't I comment on his most recent piece of crap? oh yeah, it's crap :-(

  • Godwin - Sunday, June 10, 2007, 3:55PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 4/5

    The write up is short, but the message is comes across better than any business model book you have out there. Ideas are forever young.

  • Hatland/Stanley Avon Group - Saturday, June 9, 2007, 11:36PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 4/5

    More people would be much better off if they listened to Robert Kiyosaki. The ones that don't will be blind-sided real soon. The next 30 months are going to prove very interesting.

  • JoshuaF - Saturday, June 9, 2007, 6:00PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    This guy is about as useless as Penelope Trunk.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Friday, June 8, 2007, 4:13PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 3/5

    ah.I think it's ok,just points of view,useful in daily life.

  • BenA - Thursday, June 7, 2007, 1:24PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 4/5

    what a great article. Finally good information. Decide what you love, what your passion is. Learn all you can about it, and open a business. Then live your dream life, retire when you want, and not when the government says you can.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Thursday, June 7, 2007, 1:02PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    I usually like his column, but not this one. My response is "So what?" The world will be never the same, this is old wisdom, isn't it.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Thursday, June 7, 2007, 12:22AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    Horsesh-t. I was a "worker" for 15 years, stayed very focussed on the job, lived way below my means and invested all my free cash in investment funds. Now in my late 30's I can affford to go in business for myself, because my family will be fine whether it works or not. Most of my "entrepreneur" friends have been barely scratching out a living their entire working lives, attending too many motivational seminars, because that is the average experience of an entrepreneur. Read "The E-Myth" if you want some real insights into that life. Any what was all that crap at the end of the article - "Timeless Business Ideas"? Are you serious?

  • Bobk - Wednesday, June 6, 2007, 9:28AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    I love the "village idiot" and "5-star stooges" designations. This guy should have a civil action brought against him for fraud and Yahoo for negligence.

  • Avraham - Wednesday, June 6, 2007, 12:27AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 4/5

    Be Passionate - A classic, extreme case is mr. Bill Gates, a college dropout him self, and later a CEO dropout, to persue his passions. This will always work. Communicate Clearly - Speaking is one of the main traits that differenciates man from animal. Therefore the better you communicate, the better human you are. Build a Community - A classic Kiyosaki advice that alone you will not go very far. He points out in one of his books that the success of the self employed is nothing but work overload. Still, I am not so fast to say "I dont know" and "Can you Help me" as he suggests. On the overall RK is great, endorsed, life and business advice.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Tuesday, June 5, 2007, 7:56PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    Excellent! BTW - a comment about the previous comment: You should read more RK stuff and you would understand a bit better that Robert doesn't say you can/can't get rich with Mutual funds but just what he thinks is the best way. Obvious these are his opinions and everyone has the freedom to either ignore or accept his advice but I continue to wonder why you would read this article if you don't think his advice is good!? Just doesn't make sense to waste your time like that. And about your friend who cashed in his 401K...that was dumb and if you really read RK advice, you would realize that is not what he recommends...

  • rkisanidi0t - Tuesday, June 5, 2007, 6:46PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    Very funny on how many 5-star commenters think 1-star people are not wealthy! By doing everything opposite of Bob recommends, I'm a multimillionaire before the age of 40. I graduated from college, worked for an employer, invested in mutual funds in both retirement and taxable accounts, saved, never used leverage outside my primary residence. Others will follow up, I'm sure, saying that they have done better under RK. A friend of mine, who is a RK follower, cashed out his 401(k) two years ago to buy real estate. He now has no retirement savings and a negative net worth. Good going RK.

  • Columbiaredhot.com - Tuesday, June 5, 2007, 11:28AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    Some of these comments are wild! Those giving negative and venomous feedback on his articles are obviously not wealthy, and never will be. But the wealthy need people like you to work in their companies. I need people like you to clean my toilets. I'll even give you a 401k. Keep up the good work RK! Us people who want better for ourselves and family respect you. Your products have changed my life for the better.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Monday, June 4, 2007, 11:42PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    When I want advice, I typically follow a proven expert. For investing, I try to learn from Warren Buffet. For personal finance, Ray Lucia. For cooking, Mom of course! For the village idiot of Finance, Bobby Kiyosaki. The list goes on of people that are older, wiser and experienced. Hmmmm, do I want financial wisdom from my 9 year old whose entire world is XBox? Bobby lauds huge corporations (that employ thousands) in his article, but yet says having a tradional job is for suckers. Thank God for all workers, especially soldiers, police, fire, doctors and nurses. Lots of 5-star clones keep piping up that those who are not as rich as Bobby should not critize. There are lots of people that are richer than I, Bernard Ebbers, Kenneth Lay (was) and Dennis Kozlowski to name a few. But, I do not like what they did either!

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Monday, June 4, 2007, 3:53PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    Excellent as usual.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Monday, June 4, 2007, 12:53PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    This is not advice, it's mere stating the obvious as he always does. If you have been living under a rock for the past 20 years then yes these might be helpful guidelines and options. Remember, in success and failure, someone is always profiting. Regardless if you many any money or not being an entrepreneur you will almost ALWAYS require employees. Also, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the cookie cutter approach of landing a great job after college and getting paid a 6 figure salary, saving your hard earned money and investing it in stocks/mutual funds or purchasing a house. Live below your means and watch as your education bring your career to the level which you desire with a SALARY which you are happy with.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Monday, June 4, 2007, 2:50AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    The guy is 100% right...the quickest way to riches is starting your own buisness. Also 100% right is that almost all of the buisnesses fail and bankrupt the entrepreneur. It takes a certain kind of person and a lot of sacrifices to take this path. All readers should be aware the risk and emotional rollercoaster ride of this path, its not the kind of freedom and paradise that robert makes it sound like. I wonder how many of the 5 star posters have actually tried going beyond motivational tapes and actually doing something. Other than his employees that post here of course...Warning...path not suitable for all

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Sunday, June 3, 2007, 2:45PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    I agree with the 1-stars...this guy is a hack. I actually just read his articles now simply out of morbid facination - wondering if this trainwreck will be worse than the last one - and to then read the comments of the people that also see him for the poseur that he his. Yahoo Finance's credibility is taking a hit by keeping this guy on as an "expert". The only reason he's rich is because he has a following of financial idiots that don't have the knowledge to understand that what they're reading is vague fluff at best, and outright irresponsible bad advice at worst. I would love to see a net-worth comparison of the 1-stars vs the 5-stars, even though I already know how it would look.

  • Shane - Sunday, June 3, 2007, 1:44PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    Some of the best advice anyone could give! The question is who will take action and change the way they were taught?

  • John - Sunday, June 3, 2007, 12:01PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    Garbage.

  • mike - Sunday, June 3, 2007, 11:18AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    Napster, Skype and Amazon all have employees -- from 5500 filings approx 8000. If I remember correctly there are only 8 people maximum from that group that qualify as entrepreneurs. The rest are employees. AT&T still exists as well as the recording industry and Barnes and Nobles. It would appear as if any job loss left one institution and migrated to another, but the "job" still exists. There is some "truthiness" to the concept that manufacturing is migrating, but people go to school to work in the service, not manufacturing sector. Perhaps this is where your "old" model of thinking of what education is today has become antiquated.

  • r - Sunday, June 3, 2007, 10:00AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    It's facile to say that one should become an entrepreneur, but if everyone did, everyone would starve. Economies run on the backs of billions of worker-bees. Those who fail at this and who stumble upon one of life's winning lotto tickets become "entrepreneurs".

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Sunday, June 3, 2007, 4:38AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 4/5

    It amazes me how many 1 star comments there are. I guess some people will never see the future and think differently. RK is right on the money with this one. In 10 to 20 years the job place will be completely different. If you don't change your lifestyle today and try to be wealthy and learn how to make money in todays world, than it's your kids that are going to suffer. So don't be selfish and think about yourself today, think about the future of your kids. Who are they going to learn from? I haven't purchased anything from this guy but I think exactly like he does. Everything he says makes perfect sense to me.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Sunday, June 3, 2007, 2:38AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 2/5

    "Going to school is obsolete" is a dangerous statement. The main obstacle in those who lose jobs is not their abundant education, it's their insufficient or same-old-knowledge that fails to be updated. Do you see doctors and lawyers losing jobs in 10 years?

  • Alfredo - Saturday, June 2, 2007, 8:57PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    RK is eluding more or less to the evolution of work. What was once "traditional" isn't so much the case anymore. Company loyalty to employees is out the window. So what do we have to do as employees? Learn to protect ourselves from the ever changing forces of economics and corporate interests. I agree with those who have commented about having a job and being happy. Be careful about being too comfortable. Perhaps, your job is recession or global proof and that's fine. Great for you. I think people don't do enough homework regarding their industry, company, and the fundamentals of economics. Job security is diminishing quickly. You can be valued and even told point blank by your employer their allegiance to you, yet with the turn of events there are far greater interest at hand then your future employement with the company. I see it happening to people all the time. It's a reallocation of resources, hence the term "human resources". Your position can become obslolete and/or too costly. Remember, underneath it all most businesses are not in the business of employing people. They are a means to an end just like any other company asset that generates revenue. If your position doesn't justify that revenue...you guessed right. !Adios Amigo! Some of the job growth in the information age is attributed from people who have lost jobs and created businesses at home or simply changed the storefront approach through the Internet. Even these business ventures are at risk if they don't update their business practices or ideas as RK said. Nevertheless, even though RK encourages to invest and be entrepreneurs not everyone will do so because of their choosing and if everyone did where would all the potential employees be to manage and work those investments and companies? There will always be people who will "earn a wage". And even if jobs and companies are disappearing, people will still have to find something to do. The problem with this, although is, thousands of jobs are added to the economy every month and perhaps the average wage is around $17 an hour, the gap between the haves and the have nots is increasing. It will mainly affect and be the demise to the quality of life for the middle class - our employees and consumers.

  • Lane - Saturday, June 2, 2007, 3:50PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    Not bad for a kiosucky article, but since I wasn't able to give you -ve stars for the slow stock market crash and mutual fund lottery article I will dock two stars here

  • Maria - Friday, June 1, 2007, 6:02PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 3/5

    Not a bad read. The effects of globalization is not a new phenomenon, but what many college graduates and professionals fail to realize is that they are no longer competing for jobs with other American individuals. They are competing globally. I don't agree with disregarding education, but we do need to begin thinking differently about how we approach buisness, finance and the workforce.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Friday, June 1, 2007, 3:18PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 3/5

    I enjoy reading peoples comments to RK's articles. Strange how RK is the one writing them and the One star's are the ones commenting badly. I wonder if they actually have done better than RK and if they have more experience than him. All fair that you can have a good article and a bad one, but his advice is based on his experience not yours. I don't think RK has ever said that you have to do it his way. Even if the message he portrays has been said by others....RK feels it still needs to be said and rightly so. Not everyone can read every book and article. Some might only look to him for advice, whether his made it rich via real estate, businesses.....or books. RK is where he is for a reason!

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