I really like “Rich Dad Poor Dad” (The Cashflow Quadrant) and “Your Money Or Your Life“. While Your Money Or Your Life made me reevaluate whether an expense was really worth it, Rich Dad Poor Dad changed the way I thought about money. I must admit that prior to reading Rich Dad Poor Dad my whole mindset regarding money was that it was something I earned in order to spend. The more I earned, the more I could spend.

Frequently when we are very set in a paradigm it is hard to see the alternatives. The idea of accumulating enough money to get the money to work for me instead of having a job, a previously alien concept, coupled with a reevaluation of whether all my expenses were really worth it changed my financial frame of mind completely. These concepts go way beyond working and saving for a comfortable retirement. Rather for me it was a question of replacing my job with an asset based income sufficient to fulfill my needs. To do that some extreme measures had to be taken lest it be many many years before my investment income would even compare to my regular expenses. So I credit Rich Dad Poor Dad and Your Money OR Your Life for that.

I have noticed that people tend to rate books and posts based on whether the writings agree with the reviewer’s line of thinking or way of thinking and not on whether the writing was good or instructional (This is why I think “Editor’s Picks” on blog carnivals is a bad idea). I might be susceptible to this as well however. Being a fairly intuitive and abstract person (INTJ), I prefer to learn the concepts rather than the specifics. Some people prefer to understand why or how things are what they are. However, a majority prefers 5 step programs and methods that can be summarized in mnemonics. For the latter these two books might not be the best picks.

Originally posted 2008-02-12 07:32:56.