Should You Listen to Financial Gurus?

September 5, 2007 by Marcel

I recently read a great post at Debt Free Revolution called Dave Ramsey: Con Man, Cult Leader, or Other? In the post, Ana ponders whether Dave Ramsey should be considered a con man since he charges money for his books, seminars, and other products. This got me to thinking about various other gurus and why some are regarded as heroes and others are regarded as villains.

Right off the bat I began thinking about the often controversial Robert Kiyosaki, author of the Rich Dad series of books. In many circles, especially in multilevel marketing organizations, he is very highly regarded as his message is that anybody can be rich if only they have the right mindset. However, for many others, he is regarded as a con artist that preys on the naiveness of people just looking to get ahead. So what causes this extreme divide between people who love Robert Kiyosaki and those that despise him? And why does Dave Ramsey seem to have nearly universal acceptance? (I don’t mean that everyone agrees with him, but it seems that even those that don’t agree with him still respect him)

I’ve narrowed it down to a few things:

The devil is in the details…

One of my biggest complaints about Robert Kiyosaki is that his books are typically very vague and provide a cursory overview of how to get rich. There is rarely enough value in the books to justify the price tag. When asked questions about his philosophies, his answers are very trite and simplistic. That being said, there is one underlying philosophy he and I share: instead of overloading on depreciating assets such as expensive TVs, stereos, etc, throw that money into appreciating assets such as stocks, real estate, or other investment vehicles.

Dave Ramsey, on the other hand, often provides a step-by-step guide to implementing his methodology. If you call into his radio show, he will dissect your situation in detail and give you a game plan going forward. Although I don’t always agree with his opinions on debt, his teachings are by no means dangerous and often err on the side of conservatism.

Man those audiobooks are expensive!

Robert Kiyosaki is the king of “upselling”. If you read his books, you will find lists of not only his other books but also his line of money games. If you buy his money games, you will see advertisements for his “beginner” seminars. If you go to his “beginner” seminars, you will hear advertisements for his “advanced” seminars. The cycle just doesn’t end. I recently received two free tickets to a Rich Dad event near where I live. I shuddered at the thought of the hardcore selling that would be present at the event and threw the tickets in the trash.

Dave Ramsey, though, is nearly the opposite. As mentioned in Ana’s post at Debt Free Revolution:

Dave often gives away his books, FPU memberships, and tickets to his live events to callers who need them. Others he tells to check his books out from their local library
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Categories: Personal Finance

14 Comments

Ana said

am September 6 2007 @ 7:31 am

Glad my post got your thinking And since I have not read Kiyosaki myself, I can’t comment more than to say you have echoed what many others whom I respect have also said. He doesn’t sound like one I care to spend my few dollars on!
Leon said

am September 7 2007 @ 10:46 am

Thanks for the advice. I was actually considering buying a Kiyosaki book!
Brian said

am September 7 2007 @ 3:50 pm

Leon – I think there are certainly some nuggets of good information that can be taken from Kiyosaki’s book(s), but for the most part you will be hearing that you should invest in “appreciating” assets versus “depreciating” assets. However, he is very light on the “how”.

It is probably worth reading the Rich Dad book at a Barnes & Noble or Borders bookstore to save yourself the money.
brip blap » Blog Archive » linkling hands across the blogosphere edition said

am September 8 2007 @ 2:14 pm

[...] Should You Listen to Financial Gurus? from Financial Dominance. Oh, Kiyosaki. The financial guru who has sparked a thousand arguments… I like him, but I’m always willing to listen to the anti-Kiyosaki point of view (and this is a good analysis). [...]
Pinyo said

am September 8 2007 @ 2:57 pm

This is a really good comparison of these two individuals. I think Robert would do much better if he is more honest and transparent about where his wealth really comes from. He claims real estate, but my guess that his wealth are from his books and seminars (as you said).
Liz said

am September 9 2007 @ 2:59 am

I also think that Dave Ramsey focuses on an attainable goal (getting out of debt) and Robert Kiyosaki focuses on a goal that will be unattainable for the majority (getting rich). I agree that Kiyosaki is light on details. Before I knew who he was I saw his column on Yahoo finance and was amazed at a beautiful picture he created of getting rich, but with no kind of pathway of how to get there. Notwithstanding, I second or third the comment that thinking about putting money in appreciating assets was eye opening for me.
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am September 10 2007 @ 6:21 am

[...] Financial Dominance – Should you listen to financial gurus? [...]
ChristianPF said

am September 10 2007 @ 11:26 am

I like Dave and I don’t really like Kiyosaki either, but I agree with the others that Kiyosaki has a few nuggets of wisdom about thinking about money differently (like the rich, as he puts it) that make it worth reading. But only the first book, the other 6 or so are just rehashing the same information from the first book.

Kiyosaki’s book was the first book I read about money and it really opened my eyes – it may be because it was the first book I read, but either way it did help me
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am September 13 2007 @ 1:07 am

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marie said

am September 21 2007 @ 2:39 am

i know some people who don’t necessarily respect dave. while he might do giveaways, it could just be a marketing scheme. and he does do lots of selling on his website. more so than robert, imo. books, seminars, classes, radio show…dave has found lots of ways to get people’s money lol.

suze orman believes that when u believe more in yourself, you demand more money. maybe that is true for robert.

im not a big fan of dave, but oddly enough he gives me more inspiration and hope with regard to paying off debt than almost everyone else. he has a can-do, positive attitude towards debt. maybe that is why he has attracted so much attention.

i love robert. i would have loved to attended his seminar! just goes to show…something u throw away may be a treasure to someone else. sell junk on e-bay instead!
Alex Givant said

am September 27 2007 @ 9:11 am

Here is the best dissection of Robert books, life, etc: http://www.johntreed.com/Kiyosaki.html
Jason said

am January 25 2008 @ 7:53 am

As I hear people talk about these topics, what is disheartening/upsetting is that I think deep down many people agree with what Liz said:

“I also think that Dave Ramsey focuses on an attainable goal (getting out of debt) and Robert Kiyosaki focuses on a goal that will be unattainable for the majority (getting rich).”

Dave teaches how to do so much more than get out of debt, he teaches the majority how to be wealthy. There is no reason families making average incomes ($40,000) can not become millionaires by retirement if they quit doing things like car payments. It’s not simply theories, it’s how to! Please, quit taking financial advice from broke people and get going, it’s so worth it!
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Ryan said

am July 24 2008 @ 10:46 am

I’d have to agree with you on the point that Kiyosaki is the king of upselling, but I strongly disagree with what you said about his books not being of value. Robert Kiyosaki teaches the fundamentals of how to attain massive wealth, by concentrating on the importance of positive cash flow. His first two books (”Rich Dad, Poor Dad” and “Cash flow quadrant”) are not intended to be “how to” books, but instead focus on the different mindsets between rich and middle class or poor. In later books he goes into more detail on “how to”, such as “Who took my money” and “Rich Dad’s guide to Investing”. I personally follow the philosophy of Dave Ramesy for my personal finances, and Robert Kiyosaki for my buisness/real estate investments. I feel they both bring valuable lessons that can be tailored to the individual.