As a boy growing up in Hawaii, Kiyosaki had two dads. Most people live their lives chasing paychecks, pay raises and job security out of greed and fear, says Kiyosaki, who says he retired a millionaire at 47 as a result of lucrative real estate and stock investments. The difference between the rich and the poor, he says, lies in what we teach our kids about money. One of the reasons the rich get richer, the poor get poorer and the middle class struggle in debt is because the subject of money is taught at home, not in school. And how it's taught, he says, makes all the difference.
Rich people acquire assets.
The poor and middle class acquire liabilities, but they think they are assets. An asset, he says, puts money into your pocket. A liability takes money out. Financial aptitude is what you do with your money once you make it, how you keep people from taking it from you, how long you keep it and how hard that money works for you. Kiyosaki's belief that schools need to do more to prepare children to handle money and finances makes a lot of sense.