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I picked up "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" in my 20s and actually gave up reading halfway. Back then, my priority was travelling, and I had a knack for seizing opportunities that would allow me to travel for free. My biggest achievement was winning a 3D2N trip to Macau for my dad and me, ostentatious hotel stay included.
Then, my son came along and overnight, my relationship with money drastically, for reasons that I detailed here (https://seedly.sg/opinions/3-ways-fatherhood-changed-my-relationship-with-money). Over these two years, I have noticed a shift in my attitude towards money though. It has evolved from wanting to secure a decent future for my boy to wanting to set a good example for him.
I may find balance sheets boring and asset classes daunting, but if I want him to have a robust and rigorous relationship with money, I better bite the bullet and learn more about investing so that I don't turn out to be another Poor Dad.
So on this Father's Day, I read "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" again. And here are 3 of my key takeaways.
1) Hone My Child's Entrepreneurial Spirit
I love career stories and found Robert Kiyosaki's career trajectory most fascinating (job with Standard Oil -- troop leader at Marine Corps -- salesman with Xerox -- founder of a company). I feel that it's so admirable that at every stage of his life, he knew what he was lacking in and took intentional steps to undertake jobs that would beef up his skill set. But his boldness must be attributed to his Rich Dad, who groomed him to take over companies from a young age.
For better or for worse, I don't have an entrepreneurial streak. Put it this way, I'm not so motivated by the need to create something uniquely mine that I want to go through the trials and tribulations of setting up my business. People have always commented that I'm a good writer, but I don't even want to write my own book. So troublesome having to market my book!
I also actually think that there's nothing wrong with doing a 9 to 6 job. We often decry how dehumanising our jobs are, but we neglect an important fact that some people enjoy their work, even if they are bound to the rat race. Perhaps they have found their calling (or ikigai) and don't mind contributing to the world through their jobs. Personally, I can honestly say that I like belonging to a cause greater than myself despite its flaws.
For sure, I will hone my son's entrepreneurial spirit and sharpen his business acumen as best as I can, but at the same time, I want to let him know that there are many routes to wealth. For instance, I will let him read this review of "The Psychology of Money", a book that features a janitor who donated a net worth of $8 million (https://blog.seedly.sg/lessons-from-millionaire-janitor-ronald-read/
I'm not justifying my life choices, but I do think there's nothing wrong about belonging to a system. Of course, if my son wants to be the next Kid Millionaire, by all means go ahead!
2) Let Him Learn A Little About A Lot
Robert Kiyosaki was very deliberate about the knowledge and skills he wanted to acquire from each of his jobs. I can certainly relate to that as I can boast an eccentric and eclectic career trajectory (JC teacher -- Polytechnic lecturer -- Assistant Language Teacher in Japan). However, all my jobs so far have centred around a passion for teaching.
This is where I found Robert Kiyosaki's words provocative because his suggested route is the antithesis of my personal beliefs and the tried-and-tested system we have in Singapore. I subscribe to the notion of ikigai. In fact, I have written a piece about whether my boy should choose ikigai over FIRE (https://seedly.sg/opinions/to-ikigai-or-fire-that-is-the-question). In any case, I think one would have the best shot at securing job fulfillment if he is lucky enough to identify his passion and then spend 10,000 hours polishing it into a charismatic and unparalleled strength. System-wise, we have Direct School Admission. Enough said.
Thanks to his Rich Dad, Kiyosaki was lucky enough to be incredibly self-aware, not to mention having balls of steel and reserves of resilience. I doubt a lot of us will have the inner strength to hop from industry to industry, so casually, almost flippantly.
So, which do I prioritise - passion and specialisation or variety? I don't have an answer yet. Perhaps only time will tell.
3) Make Him Value Fun
These words hit me like a sledgehammer, so I'm going to reproduce them here: "Sometimes you win and sometimes you learn. But have fun. Most people never win because they're more afraid of losing." (pg. 162).
Notice how Kiyosaki never used the word "lose". He used the word "learn" instead. Now, the growth mindset wasn't something that was talked about when "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" was published. But if these words don't exemplify the growth mindset, then I don't know what does.
Living in densely packed Singapore and growing up with a kiasu mentality, it's hard not to compare ourselves with the Tans and Ahmads and Rameshs. This sense of not wanting to lose out is especially compounded with people achieving milestones like saving $100k before the age of 30 (https://seedly.sg/opinions/why-saving-100-000-before-30-matters). In fact, these days, we even compare the sizes of our CPF balances (https://blog.seedly.sg/cpf-account-balance-savings-comparison-age-groups/
Of course there are useful benchmarks to keep in view - and a certain amount of stress goes a long way towards strengthening our self-discipline. But I won't want him to live life thinking that it is a zero-sum game. That he is obligated to spend every second thinking about how to optimise his productivity and maximise his use of life hacks.
Ultimately, I don't want him to say nope to trying new stuff because he deems it a waste of time or finds it too risky. I want him to have fun trying to win the money game.
And if his priorities are not on money, specifically the 8th wonder of compound interest, then never mind lar. He should give himself permission to chill and lepak*. I promise not to freak out because I was once the carefree, free-spirited vagabond.
P.S: The hand in my cover image is my first Father's Day gift from my son.
lepak* - a Malay word that has made it to the Oxford dictionary. It means to hang around and relax by doing nothing.
