World map indicating literacy by country (2011 Human Development Report) Grey = no data

World illiteracy halved between 1970 and 2005.

Literacy has been described as the ability to read for knowledge and write coherently and think critically about the written word. Literacy can also include the ability to understand all forms of communication, be it body language, pictures, video or sound (reading, speaking, listening and viewing). Evolving definitions of literacy often include all the symbol systems relevant to a particular community. Literacy encompasses a complex set of abilities to understand and use the dominant symbol systems of a culture for personal and community development. In a technological society, the concept of literacy is expanding to include the media and electronic text, in addition to alphabetic and number systems. These abilities vary in different social and cultural contexts according to need and demand.

Literacy represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from print. Key to all literacy is reading development, which involves a progression of skills that begins with the ability to understand spoken words and decode written words, and culminates in the deep understanding of text. Reading development involves a range of complex language underpinnings including awareness of speech sounds (phonology), spelling patterns (orthography), word meaning (semantics), grammar (syntax) and patterns of word formation (morphology), all of which provide a necessary platform for reading fluency and comprehension. Once these skills are acquired the reader can attain full language literacy, which includes the abilities to approach printed material with critical analysis, inference and synthesis; to write with accuracy and coherence; and to use information and insights from text as the basis for informed decisions and creative thought.^[1]

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) defines literacy as the "ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute, using printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider society."^[2]

History[link]

Illiteracy rate in France in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Literacy in Europe[link]

In 12th and 13th century England, the ability to sit a particular passage from the Bible entitled a common law defendant to the so-called benefit of clergy provision, which entitled a person to be tried before an ecclesiastical court, where sentences were more lenient, instead of a secular one, where hanging was a likely sentence. This opened the door to literate lay defendants also claiming the right to the benefit of clergy provision, and because the Biblical passage used for the literacy test was always Psalm 51 (Miserere mei, Deus... - "O God, have mercy upon me...") - an illiterate person who had memorized the appropriate verse could also claim the benefit of clergy provision.^[3]

By the mid-18th century, the ability to read and comprehend translated scripture led to Wales having one of the highest literacy rates. This was the result of a Griffith Jones's system of circulating schools, which aimed to enable everyone to read the Bible in Welsh. Similarly, at least half the population of 18th century New England was literate, perhaps as a consequence of the Puritan belief in the importance of Bible reading. By the time of the American Revolution, literacy in New England is suggested to have been around 90%.

The ability to read did not necessarily imply the ability to write. The 1686 church law (kyrkolagen) of the Kingdom of Sweden (which at the time included all of modern Sweden, Finland, and Estonia) enforced literacy on the people and by the end of the 18th century, the ability to read was close to 100%. But as late as the 19th century, many Swedes, especially women, could not write. That said, the situation in England was far worse than in Scandinavia, France and Prussia: as late as 1841, 33% of all Englishmen and 44% of Englishwomen signed marriage certificates with their mark as they were unable to write (government-financed public education was not available in England until 1870 and, even then, on a limited basis).

The historian Ernest Gellner argues that Continental European countries were far more successful in implementing educational reform precisely because those governments were more willing to invest in the population as a whole.^[4] The view that public education contributes to rising literacy levels is shared by the majority of historians.

Although the present-day concepts of literacy have much to do with the 15th century invention of the movable type printing press, it was not until the Industrial Revolution of the mid-19th century that paper and books became financially affordable to all classes of industrialized society. Until then, only a small percentage of the population were literate as only wealthy individuals and institutions could afford the prohibitively expensive materials. Even today^[update], the dearth of cheap paper and books is a barrier to universal literacy in some less-industrialized nations.

From another perspective, the historian Harvey Graff has argued that the introduction of mass schooling was in part an effort to control the type of literacy that the working class had access to. According to Graff, literacy learning was increasing outside of formal settings (such as schools) and this uncontrolled, potentially critical reading could lead to increased radicalization of the populace. In his view, mass schooling was meant to temper and control literacy, not spread it.^[5] Graff also points out, using the example of Sweden, that mass literacy can be achieved without formal schooling or instruction in writing.^[6]

Literacy in North America[link]

Canada[link]

This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling. You can assist by editing it. (April 2012)

The literacy rate of Canada, being almost 99% in 2003, has declined, and will be under world's average literacy rates for adults in the next two decades, depending on the rate of declining.^[7]

United States[link]

In 1820 20 percent of the entire adult population was illiterate, and 80 percent of the black population was illiterate. By 1900 the situation had improved somewhat, but still 44 percent of black people remained illiterate. The statistical data show significant improvements for black and other races in the early portion of the 20th century as the former slaves who had no educational opportunities in their youth were replaced by younger individuals who grew up in the post Civil War period and often had some chance to obtain a basic education. The gap in illiteracy between white and black adults continued to narrow through the 20th century, and in 1979 the rates were about the same.^[8]

Full prose proficiency, as measured by the ability to process complex and challenging material such as would be encountered in everyday life there, is achieved by about 13% of the general, 17% of the white, and 2% of the black population.^[9][10] However 86% of the general population had basic or higher prose proficiency as of 2003, with a decrease distributed across all groups in the full proficiency group vs. 1992 of more than 10%, consistent with a general decline.^[11]

Literacy in South America[link]

In 1964 in Brazil, Paulo Freire was arrested and exiled for teaching the Brazilian peasants to read.^[12]

Since democracy returned to Brazil, however, there has been a steady increase in the percentage of literate people.

Literacy in Africa[link]

Africa is the continent with the lowest literacy rate in the world.

Algeria[link]

The literacy rate of Algeria is around the 70% mark, which is attributed to the fact that education is compulsory and free in Algeria up to age of 17.

Botswana[link]

Botswana has among the highest literacy rates in the developing world with around 85% of its population being literate.

Egypt[link]

Egypt has a relative high literacy rate in proportion to its population size. Education is compulsory from the ages six to 15 and free for all children to attend. 93% of children enter primary school today, compared with 87% in 1994. Major universities include Cairo University (100,000 students), Alexandria University, and the 1,000-year-old Al-Azhar University, one of the world's major centers of Islamic learning. ^[13]

Ethiopia[link]

In Ethiopia, a national literacy campaign introduced in 1978 increased literacy rates to between 37% (unofficial) and 63% (official) by 1984.^[14]

Kenya[link]

The literacy rate of Kenya is well over 70% due to fact that the first 8 years of primary school are provided tuition-free by the government. In January 2008, the government began offering a program of free secondary education, subject to some restrictions.

Literacy in Asia[link]

China[link]

The PRC conducts standardized testing to assess proficiency in Putonghua but it is primarily for foreigners or those needing to demonstrate professional proficiency in the Beijing dialect. Literacy in logographic languages like Chinese has been graded on the number of characters in the speaker's lexicon, with a few thousand considered the minimum for practical literacy. Similar tests exist in other countries where Chinese is an official language. Chinese can be expressed phonetically and alphabetically but Chinese speakers prefer the Chinese logographic system.

India[link]

Laos[link]

Three Laotian girls sit outside their school, each absorbed in reading a book they received at a rural school book party.

Obstacles to literacy vary by country and culture. Writing systems, quality of education, availability of written material, competition from other sources (television, video games, cell phones, and family work obligations) and cultural influences all influence literacy levels.

In Laos, which has a phonetic alphabet, the mechanics of reading are relatively easy to learn. It is easier than in English, where spelling and pronunciation rules are filled with exceptions, and far easier than Chinese, with thousands of symbols to be memorized. But a lack of books and other written materials has hindered functional literacy. Many children and adults are able to read, but do it so haltingly that the skill is of no real benefit. For this and other reasons, Laos has the lowest level of adult literacy of any Southeast-Asian nation except for East Timor.^[15]

A literacy project in Laos addresses this by using what it calls "books that make literacy fun!" The project, Big Brother Mouse, publishes colorful, easy-to-read books, then delivers them by holding book parties at rural schools. Some of the books are modeled on successful western books by authors such as Dr. Seuss. The most popular titles, however, are traditional Lao fairy tales. Two popular collections of folktales were written by Siphone Vouthisakdee, who comes from a village where only five children finished primary school.^[16]

Big Brother Mouse has also created village reading rooms, and published books for adult readers about subjects such as Buddhism, health, and baby care.^[17]

Pakistan[link]

In Pakistan, the National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) aims to bring literacy to adults, especially women.

Philippines[link]

In the Philippines, the DepEd, CHED, and other academic institutions encourage children to improve literacy skills and knowledge. The government has a program of literacy teaching starting in kindergarten.

Literacy in the 21st century[link]

This idea has forever changed the landscape of information access, and is integral in an understanding of Literacy as a practice, in the 21st Century. It is no longer sufficient to consider whether a student can 'read' (decoding text) and 'write' (encoding text), and it is necessary to consider more meaningful aspects of literacy in education and in society as a whole, if we are to complete the transition we are in, from a society in which communication was never possible on the level of 'many to many', to one in which it is.^[18]

Economic impact[link]

Many policy analysts consider literacy rates as a crucial measure to enhance a region's human capital. This claim is made on the grounds that literate people can be trained less expensively than illiterate people, generally have a higher socio-economic status^[19] and enjoy better health and employment prospects. Policy makers also argue that literacy increases job opportunities and access to higher education.

In Kerala, India, for example, female and child mortality rates declined dramatically in the 1960s, when girls schooled according to the education reforms after 1948 began to raise families. In addition to the potential for literacy to increase wealth, wealth may promote literacy, through cultural norms and easier access to schools and tutoring services.^{[citation needed]}

In 2009, the National Adult Literacy agency (NALA) commissioned an economist to do a cost benefit analysis of adult literacy training in Ireland. He reported that there were economic gains for the individuals, the companies they worked for, the Exchequer, as well as the economy, for example, increased GDP, and society at large. The annual income gain per person per level increase on the Irish ten level National Qualifications Framework being €3,810 and the gain to the Exchequer, in terms of reduced social welfare transfers and increased tax payments, being €1,531 per annum.^[20]

Broader and complementary definitions[link]

Traditionally considered the ability to use written language actively and passively, some definitions of literacy consider it the ability to "read, write, spell, listen, and speak."^[21] Since the 1980s, some have argued that literacy is ideological, which means that literacy always exists in a context, in tandem with the values associated with that context.^[22][23] Prior work viewed literacy as existing autonomously.^{[24][25][26][27]}

Some have argued that the definition of literacy should be expanded. For example, in the United States, the National Council of Teachers of English and the International Reading Association have added "visually representing" to the traditional list of competencies. Similarly, in Scotland, literacy has been defined as: "The ability to read, write and use numeracy, to handle information, to express ideas and opinions, to make decisions and solve problems, as family members, workers, citizens and lifelong learners."^[28]

A basic literacy standard in many societies is the ability to read the newspaper. Increasingly, communication in commerce or society in general requires the ability to use computers and other digital technologies.^[29] Since the 1990s, when the Internet came into wide use in the United States, some have asserted that the definition of literacy should include the ability to use tools such as web browsers, word processing programs, and text messages. Similar expanded skill sets have been called multimedia literacy, computer literacy, information literacy, and technological literacy.^[30][31] Some scholars propose the idea multiliteracies which includes Functional Literacy, Critical Literacy, and Rhetorical Literacy.^[32]

"Arts literacy" programs exist in some places in the United States.^[33]

Other genres under study by academia include critical literacy, media literacy, ecological literacy and health literacy^[34] With the increasing emphasis on evidence-based decision making, and the use of statistical graphics and information, statistical literacy is becoming a very important aspect of literacy in general. The International Statistical Literacy Project is dedicated to the promotion of statistical literacy among all members of society.

It is argued that literacy includes the cultural, political, and historical contexts of the community in which communication takes place.^[35]

Taking account of the fact that a large part of the benefits of literacy obtain from having access to a literate person in the household, a recent literature in economics, starting with the work of Kaushik Basu and James Foster, distinguishes between a 'proximate illiterate' and an 'isolated illiterate'. The former refers to an illiterate person who lives in a household with other literates and the latter to an illiterate who lives in a household of all illiterates. What is of concern is that many people in poor nations are not just illiterates but isolated illiterates.

Teaching literacy[link]

The examples and perspective in this section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (April 2011)

Teaching English literacy in the United States is dominated at present by a conception of literacy that focuses on a set of discrete decoding skills. From this perspective, literacy - or, rather, reading - comprises a number of subskills that can be taught to students. These skill sets include: phonological awareness, phonics (decoding), fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary. Mastering each of these sets of subskills is necessary for students to become proficient readers.^[36]

From this same perspective, readers of alphabetic languages must understand the alphabetic principle in order to master basic reading skills. A writing system is said to be alphabetic if it uses symbols to represent individual language sounds,^[37] though the degree of correspondence between letters and sounds varies across alphabetic languages. Syllabic writing systems (such as Japanese kana) use a symbol to represent a single syllable, and logographic writing systems (such as Chinese) use a symbol to represent a morpheme.^[38]

There are any number of approaches to teaching literacy; each is shaped by its informing assumptions about what literacy is and how it is best learned by students. Phonics instruction, for example, focuses on reading at the level of the word.^[37] It teaches readers to attend to the letters or groups of letters that make up words. A common method of teaching phonics is synthetic phonics, in which a novice reader pronounces each individual sound and "blends" them to pronounce the whole word.^[37] Another approach to phonics instruction is embedded phonics instruction, used more often in whole language reading instruction, in which novice readers learn about the individual letters in words on a just-in-time, just-in-place basis that is tailored to meet each student's reading and writing learning needs.^[37] That is, teachers provide phonics instruction opportunistically, within the context of stories or student writing that feature many instances of a particular letter or group of letters. Embedded instruction combines letter-sound knowledge with the use of meaningful context to read new and difficult words.^[39] Techniques such as directed listening and thinking activities can be used to aid children in learning how to read and reading comprehension.

Public library efforts to promote literacy[link]

The public library has long been a proponent for literacy in its communities.^[40] The release of the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) report in 2005 revealed that approximately 14 percent of adults function at the lowest level of literacy and 29 percent of adults function at the basic functional literacy level, meaning they are not able to help their children with homework beyond the first few grades^[41] The lack of reading skills hinders adults from reaching their full potential. They might have difficulty getting and maintaining a job, providing for their families, or even reading a story to their children. For adults, the library might be the only source of a literacy program.^[42]

United States[link]

Programs have been instituted in public libraries across the United States in an attempt to improve the literacy rates in this country. Some example of various literacy programs across the country are listed below.

The READ/Orange County program, initiated in 1992 by the Orange County Public Library in California is an example of a flourishing community literacy program. The organization builds on what people have already learned through experiences as well as previous education, rather than trying to make up for what has not been learned. The organization then provides the student with the skills to continue learning in the future.^[42] The program operates on the belief that an adult who learns to read creates a ripple effect in the community. An adult who learns to read impacts not just himself but the whole community; he becomes an example to his children and grandchildren, and can then better serve his community.^[42] The mission of READ/Orange County is to "create a more literate community by providing diversified services of the highest quality to all who seek them." Potential tutors train during an extensive twenty-three hour Tutor Training Workshop in which they learn the philosophy, techniques and tools they will need to work with adult learns^[42] After completing the training, the tutors invest at least fifty hours a year to tutoring their student.

Another successful literacy program is the BoulderReads! program in Boulder, Colorado. The program recognized the difficulty that students had in obtaining child care while attending tutoring sessions, and joined with the University of Colorado to provide reading buddies to the children of students. Reading Buddies matches children of adult literacy students with college students who meet with them once a week throughout the semester for an hour and a half. The college students receive course credit, ensuring the quality and reliability of their time^[43]

Each Reading Buddies session focuses primarily on the college student reading aloud with the child. This helps the child gain interest in books and feel comfortable reading aloud. Time is also spent on word games, writing letters, or searching for books in the library. Throughout the semester the pair work on writing and illustrating a book together. The college student’s grade is partly dependent on the completion of the book. Although Reading Buddies began primarily as an answer to the lack of child care for literacy students, it has evolved into another aspect of the literacy program.^[43] While the children are not participants in the tutoring program, they do show marked improvement in their reading and writing skills throughout the semester, due in part to the admiration and respect they gain for their college reading buddy.

The Hillsborough Literacy Council, operating under The Florida Literacy Coalition, a statewide literacy organization, strives to improve the literacy ability of adults in Hillsborough County, Florida. Working since 1986, the HLC is "committed to improving literacy by empowering adults through education"^[44] The HLC also provides tutoring for English-speakers of other languages (ESOL). Approximately 120,000 adults in Hillsborough County are considered illiterate, or read below the fourth grade level. Through one on one tutoring the organization works to help adult students reach at least the fifth grade level. 95,000 adults living in Hillsborough County do not speak English; volunteers in the organization typically work with small groups of non-English speaking students to help practice their English conversation skills.

See also[link]

• List of countries by literacy rate

References[link]

External links[link]

Look up literacy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• UNESCO Literacy Portal
• UNESCO Effective Literacy Practice Database
• Literacy at the Open Directory Project
• Literacy Assessment
• The National Strategies for Primary Literacy
• The Digital Archive of Literacy Narratives
• National Literacy Trust
• List of countries by literacy rate List of Countries by literacy rate.

Robert Toru Kiyosaki (born April 8, 1947) is an American investor, businessman, self-help author, motivational speaker, financial literacy activist, and occasional financial commentator. Kiyosaki is perhaps best known for his Rich Dad Poor Dad series of motivational books and other material published under the Rich Dad brand. He has written over 15 books which have combined sales of over 26 million copies.^[1] Although beginning as a self-publisher, he was subsequently published by Warner Books, a division of Hachette Book Group USA. His new books appear under the Rich Dad Press imprint. Three of his books, Rich Dad Poor Dad, Rich Dad's CASHFLOW Quadrant, and Rich Dad's Guide to Investing, have been on number one on the top 10 best-seller lists simultaneously on The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and the New York Times. Rich Kid Smart Kid was published in 2001, with the intent to help parents teach their children financial concepts. He has created three "Cashflow" board and software games for adults and children and has a series of "Rich Dad" CDs and disks.

As a devout global financial literacy advocate, Kiyosaki has been a staunch proponent of entrepreneurship, business education, investing, and that comprehensive financial literacy concepts should be taught in schools around the world.^[2] Kiyosaki also operates his own blog and maintains a monthly column on Yahoo Finance writing about his latest thoughts on global economics, investing, business, world financial markets, and personal finance.^[3][4]

Life and career[link]

A fourth-generation Japanese American, Kiyosaki was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii. He is the son of educator Ralph H. Kiyosaki (1919–1991). After graduating from Hilo High School, he attended the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in New York, graduating with the class of 1969 as a deck officer. He later served in the Marine Corps as a helicopter gunship pilot during the Vietnam War in 1972, where he was awarded the Air Medal.^[5]

Kiyosaki left the Marine Corps in 1975 and got a job selling copy machines for the Xerox Corporation as a salesperson. In 1977, Kiyosaki started a company that brought to market the first nylon and Velcro "surfer" wallets. The company was moderately successful at first but eventually went bankrupt. In the early 1980s, Kiyosaki started a business that licensed T-shirts for Heavy metal rock bands, which was later sold in 1985.^[6]

In 1994, after becoming financially independent through various real estate investments and private business operations, Kiyosaki retired at the age of 47. In 1997, after his short lived retirement, he launched Cashflow Technologies, Inc.^[7] which owns and operates the Rich Dad^[8] and Cashflow^[9] brands.

Personal life[link]

He has been married to wife, Kim, who is an entrepreneur, investor, author, and a motivational speaker. They have been married since 1985. He and Kim have settled in the Scottsdale area in Phoenix, Arizona since 1994. Kiyosaki also has one sister, Emi Kiyosaki, a Tibetan Buddhist nun known by the name Ven. Tenzin Kacho. He has co-authored one book with her called "Rich Brother, Rich Sister".

Business ventures and investments[link]

Aside from operating the Rich Dad Company and Cashflow Technologies, Inc., Kiyosaki continues to operate external business ventures and has continued engaging with various investments since he came out of retirement in 1997.^[10][10]

Mining ventures[link]

Kiyosaki bought a silver mine in South America in 2002, took a gold mining company in China public back in 2002, and took public additional mines from IPOs listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange during the early 2000s. In 2009, Kiyosaki revealed in his book Conspiracy of the Rich that he is currently working on a copper mine that is yet to be taken public once copper prices begin to rise in value.^[11]

Precious metals and coin dealing[link]

Through his teenage years, Kiyosaki dabbled with silver and gold coins as a starting investment during the 1960s. In a July 2005 Yahoo Finance article Kiyosaki states that

If you only have a few dollars, you may want to go to your local coin dealer and buy silver and gold coins as close to the price of gold or silver as possible. I would not invest in 'collectible' precious metal coins unless you really know a good collectible coin from a bad one. For as little as $20 you can buy a few precious metal coins and begin to take steps to prepare for one of the biggest crashes in world history.^[12]

In addition, Kiyosaki states that he is a "gold bug", meaning is that he holds various commodities such as gold and silver to hedge against government misprinting of the U.S. dollar as a fiat currency since the early 1970s when President Richard Nixon took the dollar off the gold standard.^[10]

Real estate acquisitions[link]

Kiyosaki is also an active real estate investor. A large portion of his wealth is concentrated within real estate investing. He has various real estate investments, real estate development ventures, and property management ventures operating around the United States, such as Texas and Oklahoma, particularly in his home state of Arizona, where he lives. Many of his holdings include hotels, golf courses, and large apartment complexes as stated in an interview with The Alex Jones Show back in late 2010.^[13]

Starting with small residential real estate investments back in 1973, Kiyosaki began investing in small condos on the island of Maui, making a small profit from capital gains by the mid 1970's. Kiyosaki starting his own real estate holding company in the 1980s during his tenure with Xerox and continued on with smaller real estate investments after the Savings and loan crisis and the 1986 Tax Reform Act hit the United States in the early 1990s where much foreclosure investment real estate was sold for pennies on the dollar. After progressing with smaller real estate investments, Kiyosaki moved into the commercial real estate business, branching off into semi-large apartment complexes, with a large portion concentrated in Arizona and the Southwestern United States and retired in 1994. Since coming out of retirement in 1997, Kiyosaki still remains involved with the apartment business and stated in an interview with Jason Hartman in 2011 that he owns over 1400 units of apartment houses.^[14][15]

Kiyosaki has been involved with commercial real estate sector such as investing in warehouses, Triple net lease and real estate development ventures around the United States.^[16][17]

Oil wells and natural gas investments[link]

Kiyosaki has stated in a Rich Dad video, several interviews, and a on number of Yahoo Finance articles that he owns oil drilling operations and oil wells around the United States but does not invest in oil company shares such as ExxonMobil or BP.^{[18][19][19][20]}

Solar company[link]

In a 2010 Rich Dad Insiders video, Kiyosaki stated that he also invested in a startup solar company.^[18]

Financial market investments[link]

In his debut book Rich Dad Poor Dad, Kiyosaki mentioned achieving consistent 16% ROI through tax lien certificates.^[21]

Written in a chapter of Rich Dad's Prophecy, Kiyosaki states of having invested in various government tax free bonds such as municipal bonds and municipal mortgage REIT's offered by real estate development companies paying over 12% tax free dividend interest.^[22]

Kiyosaki has also stated in numerous interviews that he does not invest or play the stock market much like the fact that he does not invest in oil company stocks. Instead, Kiyosaki trades stock options, Forex currencies, and other derivatives in the financial markets as stated in a chapter written in his book, Rich Dad's Prophecy and in a 2009 interview with real estate investor John Hartman.^[15]

Kiyosaki has frequently mentioned himself of investing in hedge funds, private placements, and other various funds such as private equity funds typically investments reserved by SEC law only for millionaires or high-income individuals.

Kiyosaki is also involved in the commodity market where he invests in gold and silver commodities as well as gold and silver ETF's, as written in chapter of his 2008 book, "Rich Dads, Increase Your Financial IQ". He stated this for the reason that he uses commodities as a hedge against uncertain economic forces such as inflation and hyperinflation as well as government's mismanagement via printing of the nations currency.^[21]

Teachings[link]

A large part of Kiyosaki's teachings focus on what he calls "financial education" generating passive income by means of investment opportunities, such as real estate investments and businesses, with the ultimate goal of being able to support oneself by such investments alone and thus achieving true financial independence WITHOUT working for a paycheck. In tandem with this, Kiyosaki defines the term "assets" as things that generate cash inflow, such as stock dividends, rental properties, or businesses, and the term "liabilities" as things that use cash, such as houses, cars, and so on. Kiyosaki continuously argues that financial leverage is critically important in becoming rich, despite the inherent financial risks, repercussions, and pitfalls that come with it.

Originally self-published before being picked up commercially to become a best seller, the central concept of the book is an anecdotal comparison of his "two fathers." His "poor dad" was his biological father, who was highly educated and became Superintendent of the Hawaii State Department of Education but was poor. Contrasted with this is his (arguably fictitious, see "Criticism and controversy" section of this article) "rich dad," his best friend's father who became "the richest man in Hawaii" by investing his smaller income into income-producing investments, and was a high school dropout. Its main purpose as a self-help book is to help people rethink their idea of money and especially their concept of themselves as employees who will gain financial rewards from conformity and education.

Kiyosaki uses the "rich dad, poor dad" comparison to illustrate his view that the majority of people are stuck in what he refers to as "the rat race"—living paycheck to paycheck and spending all of their time working to pay bills and other expenses. In his books, Kiyosaki advocates tax-advantaged investment vehicles, such as real estate or businesses, rather than ownership of securities such as stocks. This idea is further developed in his later books and "Rich Dad" became Kiyosaki's personal brand for various publishing ventures.

Kiyosaki continuously stresses financial literacy through the acquisition of he calls "assets" as the means to obtaining wealth. He says that life skills are often best learned through experience and that there are important lessons not taught in school. He says that formal education is primarily for those seeking to be employees or self-employed individuals, and that this is an "Industrial Age idea." And according to Kiyosaki, in order to obtain financial freedom, one must be either a business owner, an investor, or both generating passive income, particularly on a monthly basis.

Kiyosaki often refers to The CASHFLOW Quadrant, a conceptual tool which he developed to categorize the four major ways income is earned. Depicted in a diagram, this concept entails four groupings, split with two crossed lines (one vertical and one horizontal). In each of the four groups there is a letter representing a way in which an individual may earn income. The letters are as follows.

• E: Employee — Working for someone else.
• S: Self-employed or Small business owner — Where a person owns his own job and is his own boss.
• B: Business owner — A person who owns a business to make money; typically where the owner's physical presence is not required.
• I: Investor — Investing money in order to receive a larger income in the future.

For those on the left side of the divide (E and S), Kiyosaki says that they may never obtain true wealth. Conversely, those on the right side of the divide (B and I) are supposedly following the only road to true wealth.

Kiyosaki also classifies the four main "asset" classes as means of gaining wealth.^[23]:

• Businesses: Businesses that generate monthly cash flow that don't require the owners physical presence.
• Real Estate: Real estate such as owning warehouses, small family homes, or apartment houses that generate monthly cash flow.
• Paper Assets: Investments such as stocks, bonds, hedge funds etc.
• Commodities: Gold, silver, iron ore, or copper that are used to hedge government's mismanagement printing of the nations currency.

Games[link]

Kiyosaki also stresses the value of games, particularly Monopoly, as tools for learning basic financial strategies such as "trade four green houses for one red hotel." Kiyosaki has created several games such as Cashflow 101 and Cashflow 202 to reinforce the information in his book.

Media appearances[link]

Several local stations of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), including WTTW of Chicago, KAET of Phoenix, KOCE of Orange County, California, WLIW of the New York/New Jersey area, and WGBH of Boston, have featured Kiyosaki with his now cancelled Rich Dad TV series. His latest TV special was a fund-raising drive. During this television special, Rich Dad's Guide to Wealth with Robert Kiyosaki, he provides viewers with financial education, opposing the common notion of getting a college degree and downplaying the importance of attaining academic or professional education.

Kiyosaki has been seen giving financial advice on various network television news channels such as on CNBC, Fox Business, and Bloomberg. He has appeared on various programs such as The Oprah Winfrey Show,^[24] Fox and Friends,^[25][26][27] Larry King Live,^[28] The O'reilly Factor, The Alex Jones Show,^[13] Glenn Beck,^[29] and Your World with Neil Cavuto.^{[25][30][31][32]}

In 2002, a speech given by Kiyosaki became the subject of a CNN story.^[33]

In 2006, Kiyosaki appeared on CNBC, discussing financial issues, answering questions from the audience, and comments by the financial experts werere also invited. In particular, Kiyosaki also filled in a few episodes under the title The Millionaire Inside Debt-Free and The Millionaire Inside: Get Inspired. Other financial experts accompanied Kiyosaki, including David Bach, Jennifer Openshaw, Larry Winget, Keith Ferrazi, and Dr. Laura Morgan Roberts have also been invited to the event.^[34][35]

In 2009, Kiyosaki was featured in a 10 Questions session in Time Magazine.^[36]

Over a number of years, Kiyosaki has repeatedly criticized other financial gurus, particularly the financial teachings of Suze Orman and Jean Chatzky, calling it “bad advice”. Because of this, Orman responded to Kiyosaki's attacks via Twitter and the two engaged in a Twitter war back in March 2010.^[37]

In September 2011, Kiyosaki along with wife Kim were featured on the front cover of JETSET magazine.^[38]

Financial advice[link]

Mutual funds[link]

Kiyosaki wrote in one column that investors in any mutual fund with a 2.5% annual fee would, over a long time period, surrender 80% of the earnings to the fund.^[39] Kiyosaki expanded on his criticism of mutual funds in another column by stating they are for "losers."^[40] Despite the fact that most mutual funds actually charged less than 1.1%.^[41] He has drawn much criticism for comparing investing in mutual funds to playing the lottery, and for discouraging 401(k) investing, contrary to the advice of most professional financial advisers.^[42] In contrast to these statements, Kiyosaki wrote in his book Prophecy that while mutual funds are not great investments, they remain one of the few acceptable investment vehicles available to those who will not educate themselves financially.

Kiyosaki's criticisms are supported by the founder of the mutual fund Vanguard, John C. Bogle. In a Frontline episode titled "401(k)s: The New Retirement Plan, For Better or Worse", Bogle stated that management fees and trading costs gobble up approximately 2.5% of an investor's annual returns and approximately 80% of an investor's long term gains. He says management costs reduce the value of a $1,000 investment over 65 years from approximately $140,000 at 8% compounded annually to a mere $30,000 at 5.5% compounded annually. Bogle's solution is to utilize index funds, which charge as little as 0.09%, to substantially reduce or eliminate management fees.^[43]

Criticism and controversy[link]

Kiyosaki's books and teachings have been criticized for focusing on anecdotes and containing little in the way of concrete advice on how readers should proceed.^[44] Kiyosaki responds that his material is meant to be more of a motivational tool to get readers thinking about money rather than a step-by-step guide to wealth. He also says the books are supposed to be "interesting" to people, which precludes involving a lot of technical material.^[45]

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation consumer affairs program Marketplace ran an investigative piece on Kiyosaki's questionable business practices on Jan 29, 2010. It includes interviews with Kiyosaki.^[46]

Bibliography[link]

Kiyosaki is best known for his book Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Kiyosaki followed with Rich Dad's CASHFLOW Quadrant and Rich Dad's Guide to Investing. He has now had at least a dozen books published, including:

• If You Want to Be Rich & Happy: Don't Go to School? : Ensuring Lifetime Security for Yourself and Your Children (1992). ISBN 0-944031-38-2.
• Rich Dad Poor Dad - What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money - That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! (first published in 1997) Warner Business Books. ISBN 0-446-67745-0.
• CASHFLOW Quadrant: Rich Dad's Guide to Financial Freedom (2000). ISBN 0-446-67747-7.
• Rich Dad's Guide to Investing: What the Rich Invest in, That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not! (2000). ISBN 0-446-67746-9.
• The Business School for People Who Like Helping People (March, 2001). ISBN 99922-67-42-9 - endorses multi-level marketing
• Rich Dad's Rich Kid, Smart Kid: Giving Your Children a Financial Headstart (2001). ISBN 0-446-67748-5.
• Rich Dad's Retire Young, Retire Rich (2002). ISBN 0-446-67843-0.
• Rich Dad's Prophecy: Why the Biggest Stock Market Crash in History Is Still Coming… and How You Can Prepare Yourself and Profit from It! (2002). Warner Books, Incorporated. ISBN 0-641-62241-4.
• Rich Dad's The Business School: For People Who Like Helping People (2003) ISBN 979-686-729-X.
• Rich Dad’s Success Stories (2003)
• You Can Choose to be Rich (2003) 12-CD Audio series with three books.
• Rich Dad's Who Took My Money?: Why Slow Investors Lose and Fast Money Wins! (2004)ISBN 0-446-69182-8.
• Rich Dad, Poor Dad for Teens: The Secrets About Money—That You Don't Learn in School! (2004) ISBN 0-446-69321-9.
• Rich Dad's Before You Quit Your Job : 10 Real-Life Lessons Every Entrepreneur Should Know About Building a Multimillion-Dollar Business (2005). ISBN 0-446-69637-4.
• Rich Dad's Escape from the Rat Race - Comic for children (2005)
• Why We Want You to Be Rich: Two Men, One Message (2006) co-written with Donald J. Trump ISBN 1-933914-02-5.
• Rich Dad's Increase Your Financial IQ: Get Smarter with Your Money (2008). ISBN 0-446-50936-1.
• Rich Dad's Conspiracy of the Rich: The 8 New Rules of Money (2009). ISBN 0-446-55980-6
• Rich Dad's Rich Brother Rich Sister (2009) co-written with Emi Kiyosaki
• The Real Book of Real Estate: Real Experts. Real Stories. Real Life. (2010). ISBN 1-4587-7250-0.
• An Unfair Advantage: The Power of Financial Education (2011). ISBN 1-61268-010-0.
• Midas Touch: Why Some Entrepreneurs Get Rich And Why Most Don't (2011), co-written with Donald J. Trump ISBN 1-61268-095-X.

Notes[link]