In financial accounting, assets are economic resources. Anything tangible or intangible that is capable of being owned or controlled to produce value and that is held to have positive economic value is considered an asset. Simply stated, assets represent ownership of value that can be converted into cash (although cash itself is also considered an asset).

The balance sheet of a firm records the monetaryJ. G. Siegel, N. Dauber & J. K. Shim, "The Vest Pocket CPA", Wiley, 2005.

There are different methods of assessing the monetary value of the assets recorded on the Balance Sheet. In some cases, the ''Historical Cost'' is used; such that the value of the asset when it was bought in the past is used as the monetary value. In other instances, the present fair market value of the asset is used to determine the value shown on the balance sheet.

value of the assets owned by the firm. It is money and other valuables belonging to an individual or business. Two major asset classes are tangible assets and intangible assets. Tangible assets contain various subclasses, including current assets and fixed assets.J. Downes, J.E. Goodman, "Dictionary of Finance & Investment Terms", Baron's Financial Guides, 2003 Current assets include inventory, while fixed assets include such items as buildings and equipment.J. Downes, J.E. Goodman, "Dictionary of Finance & Investment Terms", Baron's Financial Guides, 2003; and J. G. Siegel, N. Dauber & J. K. Shim, "The Vest Pocket CPA", Wiley, 2005.

Intangible assets are nonphysical resources and rights that have a value to the firm because they give the firm some kind of advantage in the market place. Examples of intangible assets are goodwill, copyrights, trademarks, patents and computer programs, and financial assets, including such items as accounts receivable, bonds and stocks.

Formal definition

An asset is a resource controlled by the entity as a result of past events and from which future economic benefits are expected to flow to the entity (Framework Par 49).

Asset characteristics

Other than software companies and the like - employees are not considered as assets, like machinery is, even though they are capable of producing value.

The probable present benefit involves a capacity, singly or in combination with other assets, in the case of profit oriented enterprises, to contribute directly or indirectly to future net cash flows, and, in the case of not-for-profit organizations, to provide services;

The entity can control access to the benefit;

The transaction or event giving rise to the entity's right to, or control of, the benefit has already occurred.

In the financial accounting sense of the term, it is not necessary to be able to legally enforce the asset's benefit for qualifying a resource as being an asset, provided the entity can control its use by other means.

The accounting equation relates assets, liabilities, and owner's equity:

:Assets = Liabilities + Stockholder's Equity (Owner's Equity)

That is, the total value of a firms Assets are always equal to the combined value of its "equity" and "liabilities."

The accounting equation is the mathematical structure of the balance sheet.

Assets are listed on the balance sheet. Similarly, in economics an asset is any form in which wealth can be held.

Probably the most accepted accounting definition of asset is the one used by the International Accounting Standards Board. The following is a quotation from the IFRS Framework: "An asset is a resource controlled by the enterprise as a result of past events and from which future economic benefits are expected to flow to the enterprise."

Assets are formally controlled and managed within larger organizations via the use of asset tracking tools. These monitor the purchasing, upgrading, servicing, licensing, disposal etc., of both physical and non-physical assets.

In a company's balance sheet certain divisions are required by generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), which vary from country to country.

Current assets

Current assets are cash and other assets expected to be converted to cash, gold, or consumed either in a year or in the operating cycle (whichever is longer), without disturbing the normal operations of a business. These assets are continually turned over in the course of a business during normal business activity. There are 5 major items included into current assets: # Cash and cash equivalents — it is the most liquid asset, which includes currency, deposit accounts, and negotiable instruments (e.g., money orders, cheque, bank drafts). # Short-term investments — include securities bought and held for sale in the near future to generate income on short-term price differences (trading securities). # Receivables — usually reported as net of allowance for noncollectable accounts. # Inventory — trading these assets is a normal business of a company. The inventory value reported on the balance sheet is usually the historical cost or fair market value, whichever is lower. This is known as the "lower of cost or market" rule. # Prepaid expenses — these are expenses paid in cash and recorded as assets before they are used or consumed (a common example is insurance). See also adjusting entries. Marketable securities Securities that can be converted into cash quickly at a reasonable price

The phrase ''net current assets'' (also called ''working capital'') is often used and refers to the total of current assets less the total of current liabilities.

Long-term investments

Often referred to simply as "investments". Long-term investments are to be held for many years and are not intended to be disposed of in the near future. This group usually consists of three types of investments: # Investments in securities such as bonds, common stock, or long-term notes. # Investments in fixed assets not used in operations (e.g., land held for sale). # Investments in special funds (e.g. sinking funds or pension funds).

Different forms of insurance may also be treated as long term investments.

Fixed assets

Also referred to as PPE (property, plant, and equipment), these are purchased for continued and long-term use in earning profit in a business. This group includes as an asset land, buildings, machinery, furniture, tools,IT equipments like Laptop etc. and certain wasting resources e.g., timberland and minerals. They are written off against profits over their anticipated life by charging depreciation expenses (with exception of land assets). Accumulated depreciation is shown in the face of the balance sheet or in the notes.

These are also called capital assets in management accounting.

Intangible assets

Intangible assets lack of physical substance and usually are very hard to evaluate. They include patents, copyrights, franchises, goodwill, trademarks, trade names, etc. These assets are (according to US GAAP) amortized to expense over 5 to 40 years with the exception of goodwill.

Websites are treated differently in different countries and may fall under either tangible or intangible assets.

Tangible assets

Tangible assets are those that have a physical substance, such as currencies, buildings, real estate, vehicles, inventories, equipment, and precious metals][[gold

Comparison : current assets , liquid assets and absolute liquid assets

Current assets !! Liquid assets !! Absolute liquid assets
Stocks
Prepaid expenses
Debtors	Debtors
Bills receivable	Bills receivable
Cash in hand	Cash in hand
Cash at bank	Cash at bank
Accrued incomes	Accrued incomes
Loans and advances (short term)	Loans and advances (short term)
Trade investments (short term)	Trade investments (short term)

See also

Trading account assets

References

Category:Accounting terminology

af:Bate ar:أصول ca:Actiu (comptabilitat) cs:Aktivum (účetnictví) da:Aktiv de:Aktiva es:Activo (contabilidad) eu:Aktibo fa:دارایی fr:Actif (finances) ko:자산 hr:Aktiva id:Aset it:Cespite lt:Aktyvas hu:Eszköz (számvitel) ms:Aset nl:Activa ja:資産 no:Aktiva pl:Aktywa pt:Ativo ro:Active ru:Актив sq:Aset simple:Assets sr:Aktiva sv:Tillgång ta:சொத்து uk:Актив vi:Tài sản zh:资产

name	Eoin Murray
nationality	Ireland
team	Quest Racing
championships	0
wins	0
podiums	0
poles	0
fastest laps	0
first year	2006
first win	-
best position	18th (2006)
last season	2007
last position	18th (9 points) }}

Eoin Murray is an Irish auto racing driver, born 9 December 1982. After winning the European Alfa Romeo 147 Challenge in 2005, he made his BTCC debut in the middle of 2006.

Early years

Murray had a successful career in karts, culminating in victory in the Formula A championship of 1999. He dabbled in rallycross that winter, winning 6 races. In 2000 he raced Fiats and Ford Fiestas in one-make championship, doing well enough to be nominated for the Young Irish Racing Driver of the Year award. In 2001 he did the full Fiesta UK Championship winning the Newcomers Cup and collecting 2 Pole Positions, 2 Fastest Laps & 8 Podium finishes. He crowned that achievement by winning the Jimmy Millard Trophy. He switched to Clio’s for 2002 competing in the Elf Renaultsport UK Clio Cup where he scored 2 podium finishes and took 7th overall in the championship which was no mean achievement in his rookie year. Eoin stuck with the Clio’s for 2003 and had 4 race wins, 4 second places, & 2 third places and came third overall in the Elf Clio UK Championship. During this time he continued to compete in British & Irish Rallycross in the Stockhatch class, in a self run Peugeot 205 GTI, where he enjoyed considerable success and took several race wins and podium finishes. He was awarded the Dunlop/ Motorsport Ireland Young Driver of the year for 2003. This accolade together with a substantial boost to his budget from Motorsport Ireland and the Irish Sports Council launched his move to Europe where he competed in the European Alfa Romeo Challenge.

European Alfa Challenge

For 2004 he switched to racing in mainland Europe, in the Alfa Romeo 147 challenge. He lacked circuit knowledge in his rookie season, but still won 2 races to come 4th overall. In 2005 he converted all this into a title winning season. He only won one race, but took 4 pole positions, 9 podiums and 4 lap records. However his efforts did not go unnoticed in Ireland where he again won the Dunlop/Motorsport Ireland Young Driver of the year for the second time. Eoin competed in the European Alfa Romeo Challenge again in 2005 and started as one of the favourites. Eoin did not disappoint and won the championship in Valencia along with 9 podium finishes, 5 fastest laps, 4 pole positions and 3 lap records. And in the process winning a 05 spec Alfa 156 S2000 worth 200,000 euro, the biggest prize an Irish driver has ever won. He also won the 05 Rallycross Stockhatch Championship and these achievements won him the accolade as Ireland international driver of the year.

BTCC

This earned him a factory-prepared WTCC-spec Alfa 156, although not the funding or team to run it. He contacted Quest Racing, which was essentially the GA team minus its former boss Gary Ayles and they sought funding. This arrived in time for round 5 at Croft, just days after team boss Ian Blackman died in a motorcycle accident. Despite the weight penalty for mid-season entrants in their first round, he finished 10th in race one to score his first championship point. At Donington Park he was more competitive, running 6th in race one until contact, before finishing 6th in race 2, and running third in race 3 before going off in slippery conditions.

Murray continued to drive his Quest Racing Alfa in the BTCC in 2007. He qualified 12th at round one, but an engine failure prevented them taking part in the races. After a 9th-place finish in race one at Thruxton, he had an engine failure in race 2, leaving the team unable to start round 3 . The misfortune continued at Brands Hatch meeting 2 in October, when he was one of 11 drivers involved in a shunt triggered by Mat Jackson. The car was not fully repairable and a lack of parts causes him to miss the next round at Knockhill . The team did not continue for 2008, leaving Murray without a drive, although he participated in the SEAT León Eurocup, finishing third in the standings.

Seat Leon Eurocup

In 2008 Eoin was reunited with the Italian team PRS Group in which he won the 2005 European Alfa Challenge with. Although it was a rookie year for Eoin and his team with the Seat Leon Supercopa they enjoyed a very successful year fighting for overall championship victory until the final round at Monza. Eoin finished 3rd in the standings and won races at Valencia and Brands Hatch.

Seat Leon Supercopa

In 2009 Eoin signed with Oasis Motorsport to compete in the Spanish Seat series with the opportunity of winning considerable prize money. Although Eoin fought for the championship up until the final race, a collision in the final race in Barcelona resulted in him finishing 4th.

External links

Official site

Profile from btcc.net

Category:British Touring Car Championship drivers Category:Irish racing drivers Category:1982 births Category:Living people Category:SEAT León Eurocup drivers

Name	Robert T. Kiyosaki
Birth date	April 08, 1947
Birth place	Hilo, Hawaii, United States
Residence	Scottsdale, Arizona, United States
Years active	(1973–1994)(1997-present)
Occupation	* Founder of the Rich Dad Company and Cashflow Technologies, Inc. Author of the Rich Dad Poor Dad series of books Financial columnist on Yahoo Finance Former host of Rich Dad TV on PBS
Alma mater	United States Merchant Marine Academy (B.S.)
Spouse	Kim Kiyosaki (1985-present)
Website	}}

Robert Toru Kiyosaki (born April 8, 1947) is an American investor, businessman, self-help author, motivational speaker, game inventor, financial literacy activist, and occasional financial commentator. Kiyosaki is perhaps best known for his ''Rich Dad Poor Dad'' series of motivational books and other material published under the Rich Dad brand. He has written over 15 books which have combined sales of over 26 million copies. Although beginning as a self-publisher, he was subsequently published by Warner Books, a division of Hachette Book Group USA. His new books appear under the Rich Dad Press imprint. Three of his books, ''Rich Dad Poor Dad'', ''Rich Dad's CASHFLOW Quadrant'', and ''Rich Dad's Guide to Investing'', have been on number one on the top 10 best-seller lists simultaneously on ''The Wall Street Journal'', ''USA Today'' and the ''New York Times''. ''Rich Kid Smart Kid'' was published in 2001, with the intent to help parents teach their children financial concepts. He has created three "Cashflow" board and software games for adults and children and has a series of "Rich Dad" CDs and disks.

As a devout global financial literacy advocate, Kiyosaki has been a staunch proponent of entrepreneurship, business education, investing, and that comprehensive financial literacy concepts should be taught in schools around the world. Kiyosaki also operates his own blog and maintains a monthly column on Yahoo Finance writing about his latest thoughts on global economics, investing, business, world financial markets, and personal finance.

Life and career

A fourth-generation Japanese American, Kiyosaki was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii. He is the son of educator Ralph H. Kiyosaki (1919–1991). After graduating from Hilo High School, he attended the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in New York, graduating with the class of 1969 as a deck officer. He later served in the Marine Corps as a helicopter gunship pilot during the Vietnam War in 1972, where he was awarded the Air Medal.

Kiyosaki left the Marine Corps in 1975 and got a job selling copy machines for the Xerox Corporation as a salesperson. In 1977, Kiyosaki started a company that brought to market the first nylon and Velcro "surfer" wallets. The company was moderately successful at first but eventually went bankrupt. In the early 1980s, Kiyosaki started a business that licensed T-shirts for Heavy metal rock bands, which was later sold in 1985.

In 1994, after becoming financially independent through various real estate investments and private business operations, Kiyosaki retired at the age of 47. In 1997, after his short lived retirement, he launched Cashflow Technologies, Inc. which owns and operates the ''Rich Dad'' and ''Cashflow'' brands.

Personal life

He has been married to wife, Kim, who is an entrepreneur, investor, author, and a motivational speaker. They have been married since 1985. He and Kim have settled in the Scottsdale area in Phoenix, Arizona since 1994. Kiyosaki also has one sister, Emi Kiyosaki, a Tibetan Buddhist nun known by the name Ven. Tenzin Kacho. He has co-authored one book with her called "Rich Brother, Rich Sister".

Business ventures and investments

Aside from operating the Rich Dad Company and Cashflow Technologies, Inc., Kiyosaki continues to operate external business ventures and has continued engaging with various investments since he came out of retirement in 1997.

Mining ventures

Kiyosaki bought a silver mine in South America in 2002, took a gold mining company in China public back in 2002, and took public additional mines from IPOs listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange during the early 2000s. In 2009, Kiyosaki revealed in his book ''Conspiracy of the Rich'' that he is currently working on a copper mine that is yet to be taken public once copper prices begin to rise in value.

Precious metals and coin dealing

Through his teenage years, Kiyosaki dabbled with silver and gold coins as a starting investment during the 1960s. In a July 2005 Yahoo Finance article Kiyosaki states that }}

In addition, Kiyosaki states that he is a "gold bug", meaning is that he holds various commodities such as gold and silver to hedge against government misprinting of the U.S. dollar as a fiat currency since the early 1970s when President Richard Nixon took the dollar off the gold standard.

Real estate acquisitions

Kiyosaki is also an active real estate investor. A large portion of his wealth is concentrated within real estate investing. He has various real estate investments, real estate development ventures, and property management ventures operating around the United States, such as Texas and Oklahoma, particularly in his home state of Arizona, where he lives. Many of his holdings include hotels, golf courses, and large apartment complexes as stated in an interview with The Alex Jones Show back in late 2010.

Starting with small residential real estate investments back in 1973, Kiyosaki began investing in small condos on the island of Maui, making a small profit from capital gains by the mid 1970's. Kiyosaki starting his own real estate holding company in the 1980s during his tenure with Xerox and continued on with smaller real estate investments after the Savings and loan crisis and the 1986 Tax Reform Act hit the United States in the early 1990s where much foreclosure investment real estate was sold for pennies on the dollar. After progressing with smaller real estate investments, Kiyosaki moved into the commercial real estate business, branching off into semi-large apartment complexes, with a large portion concentrated in Arizona and the Southwestern United States and retired in 1994. Since coming out of retirement in 1997, Kiyosaki still remains involved with the apartment business and stated in an interview with Jason Hartman in 2011 that he owns over 1400 units of apartment houses.

Kiyosaki has been involved with commercial real estate sector such as investing in warehouses, Triple net lease and real estate development ventures around the United States.

Oil wells and natural gas investments

Kiyosaki has stated in a Rich Dad video, several interviews, and a on number of Yahoo Finance articles that he owns oil drilling operations and oil wells around the United States but does not invest in oil company shares such as ExxonMobil or BP.

Solar company

In a 2010 Rich Dad Insiders video, Kiyosaki stated that he also invested in a startup solar company.

Financial market investments

In his debut book Rich Dad Poor Dad, Kiyosaki mentioned achieving consistent 16% ROI through tax lien certificates.

Written in a chapter of Rich Dad's Prophecy, Kiyosaki states of having invested in various government tax free bonds such as municipal bonds and municipal mortgage REIT's offered by real estate development companies paying over 12% tax free dividend interest.

Kiyosaki has also stated in numerous interviews that he does not invest or play the stock market much like the fact that he does not invest in oil company stocks. Instead, Kiyosaki trades stock options, Forex currencies, and other derivatives in the financial markets as stated in a chapter written in his book, Rich Dad's Prophecy and in a 2009 interview with real estate investor John Hartman.

Kiyosaki has frequently mentioned himself of investing in hedge funds, private placements, and other various funds such as private equity funds typically investments reserved by SEC law only for millionaires or high-income individuals.

Kiyosaki is also involved in the commodity market where he invests in gold and silver commodities as well as gold and silver ETF's, as written in chapter of his 2008 book, "Rich Dads, Increase Your Financial IQ".

Teachings

A large part of Kiyosaki's teachings focus on what he calls "financial education" generating passive income by means of investment opportunities, such as real estate investments and businesses, with the ultimate goal of being able to support oneself by such investments alone and thus achieving true financial independence WITHOUT working for a paycheck. In tandem with this, Kiyosaki defines the term "assets" as things that generate cash inflow, such as stock dividends, rental properties, or businesses, and the term "liabilities" as things that use cash, such as houses, cars, and so on. Kiyosaki continuously argues that financial leverage is critically important in becoming rich, despite the inherent financial risks, repercussions, and pitfalls that come with it.

Originally self-published before being picked up commercially to become a best seller, the central concept of the book is an anecdotal comparison of his "two fathers." His "poor dad" was his biological father, who was highly educated and became Superintendent of the Hawaii State Department of Education but was poor. Contrasted with this is his (arguably fictitious, see "Criticism and controversy" section of this article) "rich dad," his best friend's father who became "the richest man in Hawaii" by investing his smaller income into income-producing investments, and was a high school dropout. Its main purpose as a self-help book is to help people rethink their idea of money and especially their concept of themselves as employees who will gain financial rewards from conformity and education.

Kiyosaki uses the "rich dad, poor dad" comparison to illustrate his view that the majority of people are stuck in what he refers to as "the rat race"—living paycheck to paycheck and spending all of their time working to pay bills and other expenses. In his books, Kiyosaki advocates tax-advantaged investment vehicles, such as real estate or businesses, rather than ownership of securities such as stocks. This idea is further developed in his later books and "Rich Dad" became Kiyosaki's personal brand for various publishing ventures.

Kiyosaki continuously stresses financial literacy through the acquisition of he calls "assets" as the means to obtaining wealth. He says that life skills are often best learned through experience and that there are important lessons not taught in school. He says that formal education is primarily for those seeking to be employees or self-employed individuals, and that this is an "Industrial Age idea." And according to Kiyosaki, in order to obtain financial freedom, one must be either a business owner, an investor, or both generating passive income, particularly on a monthly basis.

Kiyosaki often refers to The CASHFLOW Quadrant, a conceptual tool which he developed to categorize the four major ways income is earned. Depicted in a diagram, this concept entails four groupings, split with two crossed lines (one vertical and one horizontal). In each of the four groups there is a letter representing a way in which an individual may earn income. The letters are as follows.

E: Employee — Working for someone else.

S: Self-employed or Small business owner — Where a person owns his own job and is his own boss.

B: Business owner — A person who owns a business to make money; typically where the owner's physical presence is not required.

I: Investor — Investing money in order to receive a larger income in the future.

For those on the left side of the divide (E and S), Kiyosaki says that they may never obtain true wealth. Conversely, those on the right side of the divide (B and I) are supposedly following the only road to true wealth.

Kiyosaki also classifies the four main "asset" classes as means of gaining wealth.:

Businesses: Businesses that generate monthly cash flow that don't require the owners physical presence.

Real Estate: Real estate such as owning warehouses, small family homes, or apartment houses that generate monthly cash flow.

Paper Assets: Investments such as stocks, bonds, hedge funds etc.

Commodities: Gold, silver, iron ore, or copper that are used to hedge government's mismanagement printing of the nations currency.

Games

Kiyosaki also stresses the value of games, particularly ''Monopoly'', as tools for learning basic financial strategies such as "trade four green houses for one red hotel." Kiyosaki has created several games such as Cashflow 101 and Cashflow 202 to reinforce the information in his book.

Media appearances

Several local stations of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), including WTTW of Chicago, KAET of Phoenix, KOCE of Orange County, California, WLIW of the New York/New Jersey area, and WGBH of Boston, have featured Kiyosaki with his now cancelled Rich Dad TV series. His latest TV special was a fund-raising drive. During this television special, ''Rich Dad's Guide to Wealth with Robert Kiyosaki'', he provides viewers with financial education, opposing the common notion of getting a college degree and downplaying the importance of attaining academic or professional education.

Kiyosaki has been seen giving financial advice on various network television news channels such as on CNBC, Fox Business, and Bloomberg. He has appeared on various programs such as ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', ''Fox and Friends'', ''Larry King Live'', ''The O'reilly Factor'', ''The Alex Jones Show'', ''Glenn Beck'', and ''Your World with Neil Cavuto''.

In 2002, a speech given by Kiyosaki became the subject of a CNN story.

In 2006, Kiyosaki appeared on CNBC, discussing financial issues, answering questions from the audience, and comments by the financial experts werere also invited. In particular, Kiyosaki also filled in a few episodes under the title The Millionaire Inside Debt-Free and The Millionaire Inside: Get Inspired. Other financial experts accompanied Kiyosaki, including David Bach, Jennifer Openshaw, Larry Winget, Keith Ferrazi, and Dr. Laura Morgan Roberts have also been invited to the event.

In 2009, Kiyosaki was featured in a 10 Questions session in Time Magazine.

Over a number of years, Kiyosaki has repeatedly criticized other financial gurus, particularly the financial teachings of Suze Orman and Jean Chatzky, calling it “bad advice”. Because of this, Orman responded to Kiyosaki's attacks via Twitter and the two engaged in a Twitter war back in March 2010.

Financial advice

Mutual funds

Kiyosaki wrote in one column that investors in any mutual fund with a 2.5% annual fee would, over a long time period, surrender 80% of the earnings to the fund. Kiyosaki expanded on his criticism of mutual funds in another column by stating they are for "losers." Despite the fact that most mutual funds actually charged less than 1.1%. He has drawn much criticism for comparing investing in mutual funds to playing the lottery, and for discouraging 401(k) investing, contrary to the advice of most professional financial advisers. In contrast to these statements, Kiyosaki wrote in his book ''Prophecy'' that while mutual funds are not great investments, they remain one of the few acceptable investment vehicles available to those who will not educate themselves financially.

Kiyosaki's criticisms are supported by the founder of the mutual fund Vanguard, John C. Bogle. In a ''Frontline'' episode titled "401(k)s: The New Retirement Plan, For Better or Worse", Bogle stated that management fees and trading costs gobble up approximately 2.5% of an investor's annual returns and approximately 80% of an investor's long term gains. He says management costs reduce the value of a $1,000 investment over 65 years from approximately $140,000 at 8% compounded annually to a mere $30,000 at 5.5% compounded annually. Bogle's solution is to utilize index funds, which charge as little as 0.09%, to substantially reduce or eliminate management fees.

Criticism and controversy

Financial status

Detailed analysis of public records (including SEC and county registrar of deeds) find no evidence to support Kiyosaki's status as a successful investor and businessman prior to the formation of his present venture, Cashflow Technologies, Inc and the Rich Dad brand. Critics claim that his wealth has come only as a result of selling books and audio presentations about topics he has not personally succeeded in and that he is probably worth far less than the US$50 to US$100 million he once claimed in an interview, claiming that his net worth lost half of its value in a single day. Gurus such as John T. Reed, repeatedly criticized Kiyosaki for distorting his net worth and his failure to disclose his financials. Critics also note he has claimed to be bankrupt as recently as 1985. Reed also says that Kiyosaki’s co-author Sharon Lechter, who later sued Kiyosaki in 2008 said that Kiyosaki himself only earned $9 million from book sales.

In several of Kiyosaki’s books he makes claims about his accomplishments which appear to be exaggerations, fabrications or misdirection.

Quality and validity of financial advice

Questions have arisen concerning Kiyosaki's true financial acumen, particularly in light of his ubiquitous, vocal and trusted presence in the popular culture of financial advice in the 21st century. Kiyosaki has also been repeatedly criticized for being overly repetitious in his teachings. Some consider this a tactic to produce "filler" material in order to make it appear that he is covering more material to mislead readers. Kiyosaki claims that this is an intentional teaching style that the conception of "repetition" he feels is important. Kiyosaki states that "repetition often in the form of multiple points of view looking at the same concept help solidify the concept in the mind of the reader."

Critics of Kiyosaki's work have thought that his advice to be financially misleading, poor, illegal, and even dangerous, particularly for a person with little or no financial wealth. Though Kiyosaki denies the notion that it "takes money to make money", when in reality, numerous investments and businesses require huge amounts of frontline capital "money" in order for an investment or business to succeed. For example, he advocates focusing on a few "good investments" for the "average investor" rather than diversifying or putting money into 401(k)s and mutual funds. Kiyosaki advocates risk-taking and recommends the average person to "have guts" to take risk, when in reality that risk needs to be evaluated and excessive amounts can cause financial strife and suicide. These standpoints conflict with the views of conservative investors and numerous financial planners and advisors have repeatedly criticized Kiyosaki stating that his advice on large "good investments" are extremely risky and isn't suitable for the average person, especially when the average person has little or no wealth to invest in the first place.

There are also those who claim that some of the things he teaches are incorrect, and based on false claims including those working for Robert Kiyosaki.

Kiyosaki's books and teachings have been repeatedly criticized by some for having anecdotal lessons, but lacking concrete advice on what exactly one should do. Many readers find his work highly motivational and educational, but some find it lacking information to put it to use in their real lives. Kiyosaki responds that his material is meant to be more of a "motivational tool" to get readers thinking about money, rather than a step by step how to guide to wealth. He also says the books are supposed to be "interesting" to people, which precludes involving a lot of technical material.

It may be difficult to distinguish fact from fiction and anecdote in many of his works. Many readers believe that Rich Dad is fictional and that Kiyosaki created him as an author surrogate (a literary device) to sell his books disguised as flawed fictitious advice. In the past, Kiyosaki has maintained that Rich Dad actually existed, but that he died decades before the book was first published. However, he has never revealed his name or any other identifying information. Attempts by outsiders to determine Rich Dad's identity have not revealed a conclusive candidate, despite the prominence such a wealthy individual would likely have had in Hawaii in the 1950s. In the February 2003 issue of ''SmartMoney'' magazine, Kiyosaki appeared to back off his claim that his "rich dad" was a real person, instead stating

ABC ran a ''20/20'' segment on May 19, 2006, in which Kiyosaki was to advise three budding entrepreneurs on how to make money. They were given $1000 and 20 days to try to make the most money possible. One earned a measly return of 24%, the second earned a return of 54% and later lost it all, and the third lost 100% of her start-up money because she invested in machines that could not be delivered in 20 days. With such mediocre and financially catastrophic results, the contestants alleged that Kiyosaki never gave concrete advice to help out the readers to guide them within the books Kiyosaki claim he did. "All he [Kiyosaki] does is, I guess, is open your mind to the possibility. He doesn't tell you how to do it." Kiyosaki responded that failure is important to learning.

At the end, ''20/20'' responded: "Does anyone really need 18 books to learn to fail?"

MLM Marketing endorsements

Kiyosaki is also an endorser of network marketing (such as Quixtar and USANA) yet fails to reveal the high failure rate for MLM marketing companies as the failure rate for all MLM companies is 99.9%, with only a miniscule percentage receiving steady cash flow and an even more smaller percentage of a MLM salesperson receiving over $100,000 per year. A vast majority of so-called MLM entrepreneurs ending up making no money or either going bankrupt, causing further financial strife for the average person. Flexibility is another huge issue. Many people don’t have the financial resources to start a MLM business even if it has to be part time, let alone for a MLM salesperson to succeed. Though Kiyosaki reasons in his book, ''The Business School For People Who Like Helping People'', that the companies teach the skills necessary to be a successful entrepreneur, like leadership, the ability to sell and teach, and emotional intelligence. Critics say he endorses the industry in order to sell more of his books and material.

Kiyosaki also claims that the network marketing business is a wonderful business for budding entrepreneurs, stating:

2006 book review backlash

The Wall Street Journal criticized ''Why We Want You To Be Rich'' by Kiyosaki and Trump as did Kiplinger's Personal Finance and Canadian Capitalist.

Yahoo Finance controversies

Kiyosaki's Yahoo Finance articles often comprise of his predictions for the upcoming fiscal year in world economics, real estate investing, and business. Many of his predictions have been incorrect, inaccurate and has even caused negative reactions and backlash from readers and other Yahoo Finance Gurus. Gurus such as John T. Reed have criticized Kiyosaki for being on Yahoo Finance branding him a “liar and a “charlatan”, that tells us much about Yahoo! Finance and nothing about Kiyosaki”.

On September 19, 2006, Kiyosaki wrote in a Yahoo Finance article that the NYMEX is an exchange where "orange juice, pork bellies,… are traded".However, readers and commenters pointed out that neither orange juice nor pork bellies are traded on the NYMEX leading further distrust regarding the validity of his financial advice.

Kiyosaki also wrote on a column in Yahoo Finance where he blames poverty on laziness. He also implies a religious justification for wealth disparity, when in reality, religion has no correlation for wealth disparity. Kiyosaki writes: "Over the years, I've met many losers who pray to God to give them gold. God helps those who help themselves. Again, the conquistadors may have been killers and thieves, but at least they knew how to help themselves." As a result, Kiyosaki received negative reviews and major backlash from readers and other Yahoo Finance gurus claiming his article to "misleading" and "unvalid". Other columnists branded Kiyosaki only as a successful "marketer" and not an entrepreneur and investor.

Downplaying tertiary education

Kiyosaki consistently downplays the importance of traditional and tertiary education to the importance of financial success. There are individuals who would object to this assertion, as well as studies to the contrary in such a fast changing and volatile job market since a person with a Bachelor's degree, Master's degree, or a PhD is less likely to be unemployed, will receive a much higher payscale compared to the average worker who does not posess a college degree, and will experience higher job satisfaction. A person holding a college degree will earn more than a high school dropout, a high-school graduate, or a person holding an associate's degree in an entire working lifetime and numerous college-educated individuals earning millions of dollars and are financially well off. One example is Meg Whitman, a Harvard MBA who earned over $1 billion as a top employee for Ebay.

Kiyosaki's release of his latest 2010 documentary "An Unfair Advantage", Kiyosaki claims that many great entrepreneurs from Thomas Edison of General Electric, Bill Gates of Microsoft, Henry Ford of Ford Motor Company, Richard Branson of Virgin Group and Steve Jobs of Apple Inc. are all examples of business owners who started out with very little and built multibillion dollar businesses. And based on the examples above, Kiyosaki also points out is that these successful business owners have something else in common that was a huge unfair advantage that Kiyosaki states as:

}}

Former real estate investor, John T. Reed has stated that famous and great entrepreneurs with their own businesses are exceptions to the usual norm of average working people, the proportion of success stories with business ownership are extremely rare, and only a small percentage of business owners can ever be successful. The large masses of entrepreneurs who are dropouts rarely succeed in business as the failure rate for most business start-ups is ninety to ninety-five percent within the first five years.

Many critics such as John T. Reed have responded to Kiyosaki saying that Kiyosaki is out of touch with the general public and that praising college dropout billionaires is “disastrous” for society due to a rarity and a very small percentage of college “dropout’’ entrepreneurs ever succeeding in the business world.

Reed further responds: }}

Casey Serin bankruptcy

Despite the fact that Kiyosaki downplays the importance of attaining a college education, Kiyosaki has become fashionable around college campuses globally, promoting real estate investing and entrepreneurship seminars for college students. Unfortunately, some students believe that "traditional education will not make them financially successful."

This notion has been exemplified through the popularity of Casey Serin's, with Serin being a blogger, part-time valet, college student, and an aspiring real estate mogul yet a failed real estate investor and a self-claimed former business associate of Kiyosaki where the results of following Kiyosaki's advice and teachings to the latter led Serin into bankruptcy. Serin ended up with a large debt and back to back foreclosures.

Board game pricing

Kiyosaki's boardgames have been repeatedly criticized for being excessively expensive with the Cashflow 101 board topping over $200 USD, making it difficult for most people to afford it.

Vancouver seminar controversy

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation consumer affairs program Marketplace ran an investigative piece on Kiyosaki's questionable business practices on January 29th, 2010. The seminar took place in Vancouver, British Columbia in the late Fall of 2009. It includes interviews with Kiyosaki claiming that his seminar instructors ripped off thousands of seminar attendees and that the attendees should use their credit cards based on the instructors instructions to load up as much credit as possible to start their first business or invest in their first real estate investment venture.

Numerous unsatisfied attendees coupled with insurmountable negative testimonials saying they were basically ripped off and pressured to load up their credit card debt, even if it meant going into bankruptcy. Two testominals submitted local citizens which included an Indian immigrant and a senior who lost her engineering job from Vancouver. Both citizens called Kiyosaki a fraud and the seminars a financial scam and ripoff.

Bibliography

Kiyosaki is best known for his book ''Rich Dad, Poor Dad''. Kiyosaki followed with ''Rich Dad's CASHFLOW Quadrant'' and ''Rich Dad's Guide to Investing''. He has now had at least a dozen books published, including:

''If You Want to Be Rich & Happy: Don't Go to School? : Ensuring Lifetime Security for Yourself and Your Children'' (1992). ISBN 0-944031-38-2.

''Rich Dad Poor Dad - What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money - That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!'' (first published in 1997) Warner Business Books. ISBN 0-446-67745-0.

''CASHFLOW Quadrant: Rich Dad's Guide to Financial Freedom'' (2000). ISBN 0-446-67747-7.

''Rich Dad's Guide to Investing: What the Rich Invest in, That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not!'' (2000). ISBN 0-446-67746-9.

''The Business School for People Who Like Helping People'' (March, 2001). ISBN 99922-67-42-9 - endorses multi-level marketing

''Rich Dad's Rich Kid, Smart Kid: Giving Your Children a Financial Headstart'' (2001). ISBN 0-446-67748-5.

''Rich Dad's Retire Young, Retire Rich'' (2002). ISBN 0-446-67843-0.

''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!'' (2002). Warner Books, Incorporated. ISBN 0-641-62241-4.

''Rich Dad's The Business School: For People Who Like Helping People'' (2003) ISBN 979-686-729-X.

''Rich Dad’s Success Stories'' (2003)

''You Can Choose to be Rich'' (2003) 12-CD Audio series with three books.

''Rich Dad's Who Took My Money?: Why Slow Investors Lose and Fast Money Wins!'' (2004)ISBN 0-446-69182-8.

''Rich Dad, Poor Dad for Teens: The Secrets About Money—That You Don't Learn in School!'' (2004) ISBN 0-446-69321-9.

''Rich Dad's Before You Quit Your Job : 10 Real-Life Lessons Every Entrepreneur Should Know About Building a Multimillion-Dollar Business'' (2005). ISBN 0-446-69637-4.

''Rich Dad's Escape from the Rat Race - Comic for children'' (2005)

''Why We Want You to Be Rich: Two Men, One Message'' (2006) co-written with Donald J. Trump ISBN 1-933914-02-5.

''Rich Dad's Increase Your Financial IQ: Get Smarter with Your Money'' (2008). ISBN 0-446-50936-1.

''Rich Dad's Conspiracy of the Rich: The 8 New Rules of Money'' (2009). ISBN 0-446-55980-6

''Rich Dad's Rich Brother Rich Sister'' (2009) co-written with Emi Kiyosaki

''The Real Book of Real Estate: Real Experts. Real Stories. Real Life.'' (2010). ISBN 1-4587-7250-0.

''An Unfair Advantage: The Power of Financial Education'' (2011). ISBN 1-61268-010-0.

''Midas Touch: Why Some Entrepreneurs Get Rich And Why Most Don't'' (2011), co-written with Donald J. Trump ISBN 1-61268-095-X.

Notes

References

External links

''Hawaii Business Magazine'' June 2002 cover story on Kiyosaki

Category:1947 births Category:Living people Category:American bloggers Category:American business writers Category:American columnists Category:American derivatives traders Category:American finance and investment writers Category:American investors Category:American military personnel of Japanese descent Category:American military personnel of the Vietnam War Category:American motivational speakers Category:American motivational writers Category:American philanthropists Category:American real estate businesspeople Category:American self-help writers Category:American stock traders Category:American writers of Japanese descent Category:Board game designers Category:Businesspeople from Hawaii Category:Businesspeople in the oil industry Category:People associated with direct selling Category:People from Hilo, Hawaii Category:People from Phoenix, Arizona Category:Recipients of the Air Medal Category:Salespeople Category:United States Marine Corps officers Category:United States Merchant Marine Academy alumni Category:United States naval aviators Category:Writers from Arizona Category:Writers from Hawaii

ca:Robert Kiyosaki cs:Robert Kiyosaki da:Robert Kiyosaki de:Robert Kiyosaki et:Robert Kiyosaki es:Robert Kiyosaki fa:رابرت کیوساکی id:Robert Kiyosaki it:Robert Kiyosaki he:רוברט קיוסאקי lt:Robert Kiyosaki hu:Robert Kiyosaki nl:Robert Kiyosaki ja:ロバート・キヨサキ pl:Robert Kiyosaki pt:Robert Kiyosaki ro:Robert Kiyosaki ru:Кийосаки, Роберт sah:Роберт Кийосаки fi:Robert Kiyosaki sv:Robert Kiyosaki ta:ராபர்ட் கியோசாகி uk:Роберт Кійосакі vi:Robert Kiyosaki zh:羅伯特·清崎