Increase Your Financial IQ: Get Smarter with Your Money by Robert T. Kiyosaki, 3/5

This book is a good follow-up to the too-anecdotal Rich Dad Poor Dad because it provides a variety of practical details and observations that give the reader an increased understanding of Kiyosaki’s financial philosophy.  Some of his ideas make sense immediately (e.g. your house is not an asset, protecting your money with smart tax strategies, the power of information) but other concepts are still hazy to me (e.g. what is “leverage,” viewing bank loans as tax-free money).

Kiyosaki makes a couple of points that I found very depressing but illuminating.  First, he advocates working for a network marketing company in order to learn sales skills and how to build a business.  Network marketing gives me the creeping horrors and if that’s what it takes to be an entrepreneur, I might not be cut out for it.  Secondly, he quotes a friend who says “Entrepreneurs have two characteristics…ignorance and courage” (194).  This is a phenomenon I’ve noticed in many areas of life, not just business-building.  It’s the blindly optimistic and self-confident who go out and do things successfully, not necessarily the people with real talent or skills.

[Why I read it: Kiyosaki doles out the info pretty thinly in his books and you need to read a few to get a handle on his ideas.]