42. Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money--That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not! - Robert Kiyosaki

I understand why everyone kept telling me to read this book! This seems to be a great lesson on - as the author says - how to make your money work for you rather than you always working for your money. The title comes from Kiyosaki's two dads - one was his incredibly intelligent biological dad who was a superintendent of education and died broke; the other was his best friend's dad who dropped out of school when he was 13 and ultimately became one of the wealthiest men in Hawaii. Kiyosaki uses the stories of these two men and their differing financial strategies to show how to achieve financial success.

One thing that really stood out to me was the way Kiyosaki defined assets and liabilities. So many people say that "your home is your greatest asset" - but per Kiyosaki, nothing is an asset unless it is putting money into your pocket.

According to the author, wealth is measured as the number of days the income from your assets will sustain you, and financial independence is achieved when your monthly income from assets exceeds your monthly expenses.

I'm hesitant to use this book as my financial roadmap, however, because it definitely does have its critics (one real estate investor says that Kiyosaki is more of a salesman than a real estate investor - which, even if true, is alright with me. I don't think he claims to be solely a real estate investor - he seems pretty diversified!). But this book has its good pieces of information that I definitely plan to put to use.

*Note: every investor I've talked to swears this guy is a fraud! How disappointing - after I read it, I was all inspired to go out and buy some investment properties. Check out John T. Reed's critique of Kiyosaki here.