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This is probably the gazillionth Rich Dad, Poor Dad series of book, but I had to read this book Rich Brother Rich Sister. Not particularly because I wanted to read about the E/S/B/I quadrant, asset/liability, blah blah.. but more so because his SISTER Emi Kiyosaki (i.e. Tenzin Kacho) is actually a buddhist monk. Well, nun. That’s a striking contrast because Robert K. is a capitalist where as Emi K. is a monk. Since a monk is traditionally viewed as someone  who’s denounced wealth and material gain, I thought this book was going to be one long argument about Buddhists’ view of money vs. a capitalist’s view of money.

Apparently, Buddhists do NOT have to have a vow of poverty as most people assume. In fact, she has a KID too (she became a monk YEARS after having given birth to her daughter). Not only that, this book is a “money making operation” to help Emi gain her financial independence herself.  I like that; how he’s honest about the purpose of writing this book.

What I like about Rich Brother Rich Sister is how it’s not just a book about money and financial independence. It has to do with Robert’s previous mentions (in Rich Dad Poor Dad) of the “why”. Why did he do what he did.

When I read Rich Dad, Poor Dad, I was always doubtful of this stories (i.e. being on a merchant ship, going to Vietname as a solider, starting + failing a multi-million dollar business, teaching business, etc.) because they seemed to be asynchronous. I wasn’t sure if he was either fudging his stories or if he was just drunk when he wrote the book. This book makes it all clear as to what happened and when.

OK enough with technicalities. There are some things I found very fascinating about Robert K.

• He was divorced once (when his velcro business failed)
• He’s very much into this NLP/personal development stuff like I am.
• He has a heart condition (he looks pretty healthy + strong to me). At the end of the book, he mentions how he’s going to have a heart surgery pretty soon.
• His dad looks like Asian KFC Colonel Sanders in his old days
• His parents had an abortion and apparently was a topic his parents secretly suffered from.
• He cheated on his wife Kim once and was apparently a big time pimp with the ladies. He later came clean to Kim.
• His sister chose the life of Buddhism even when she became a single mother and was financially struggling
• His sister knows and works with Dalai Lama.
• He got honorably discharged from the military because he abused his powers as a pilot (taking women to isolated islands, boozing, etc.) but came clean to his boss.
• He was mentioning that he was doing a $17 mil. real estate deal in Oklahoma. I thought he’d be doing multi-hundred million dollar deals.

What I like about all this is how human he appears. I guess you can’t write about your entire lifetime worth of stories in one single book. With this book (much longer than Rich Dad Poor Dad), he’s able to share his life stories in depth.

One thing that really struck me was how he says a lot of people live meaningless lives. For example, the “lifers”, he calls them, are people who stay at jobs they HATE just because they want their pensions. Honestly, I cannot say that’s me because (thank God) I’ve always been taught by mom never to be other people’s burdens or to become content with being just a “salary-man”. I can identify with what he’s saying because every time I meet a government employee or soon-to-be government employee, they’re always talking about how great their pension plan. I personally know this guy who wants to be a policeman, NOT because it’s exciting and respectable profession, but for the PAY and the pension. He’s only 22 and looking forward to retiring at age of 60-something. How ridiculously stupid. He even says he’s looking forward to doing nothing.

Maybe it’s because I’m Asian, but I can identify with his parent’s stories more so than anything. Their dad died of lung cancer. Emi describes vividly how their dad died slowly by suffocating because his lungs were no longer capable of taking in oxygen from a lifetime’s worth of smoking. Their mom died when their dad lost the election, probably due to mental shock more than anything, and how she left them a mountain load of credit card debt.

But the most fascinating thing about the book is how they BOTH took their leap of faith even when they weren’t sure where they were landing. Their 20-30 year long process of finding their true passion and calling in life was truly inspiring. Can you imagine going to another country to find your spiritual leader when you have no money and have a child to feed as a single parent? Can you imagine moving to another state with barely any money and with a new wife who you’ve “pumped up” with your dreams and vision when you’re in your mid to late 30’s?

Very difficult decisions. Very brave. Very awe inspiring.

Of course, i don’t agree with every points of view that Robert and Emi laid out but I can see majority of the philosophical points made in the book. I am certain there are critics out there who are gonna bash it (of course they will… that’s their job, to CRITICIZE), but I highly highly give it two thumbs up.

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