Robert T. Kiyosaki - Why A Students Work for C Students and Why B Students Work for the Government: Rich Dads Guide to Financial Education for Parents

Introduction

Awaken Your Childs Financial Genius

"Everybody is a genius.
But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." Albert Einstein

Whenever I think about writing a new book I ask myself: Why am I writing this book?

For me, the answer has always been simple, and always the same. I have always wondered why money is not a subject taught in school. Day after day, our teachers drummed this into our heads:

"Go to school to get a job.
If you dont go to school, you wont get a good job."

Why Go to School?

This caused me to ask my teachers, "Isnt the reason for getting a job to make money? If money is the objective for getting a job, why not get right to the point and just teach us about money?" My question was never answered.

The Emperor Has No Clothes

The Emperors New Clothes is a Danish fairy tale written by Hans Christian Andersen, published in 1837.

The Plot: Once upon a time, there lived an emperor who cared only about his clothes and about showing them off. One day two con men came to him and said that they could make him the finest suit of clothes from the most beautiful cloth. This cloth, they said, was very special. The cloth was invisible to the stupid and the low-born.
Being a bit nervous about whether he himself would be able to see the cloth the emperor first sent two of his trusted advisors to see this special material. There was, of course, no cloth at all, but neither would admit that they could not see it and so they praised it.
As word of this special cloth spread, all the townspeople were now interested to learn how stupid their neighbors were.
The emperor then allowed himself to be dressed by the con men in his special new suit, made of this special cloth, for the procession through town. Although he knew he was naked, he never admitted it for fear that he was too unfit and stupid to see that he was wearing nothing. He too was afraid that the townspeople would think that he was stupid.
Of course, all the townspeople wildly praised the magnificent clothes of the emperor, themselves afraid to admit that they could not see the clothes, until a small child said: "But he has nothing on!"
The childs parents gasped and attempted to silence the child, but the child would not be silenced. As he twisted and turned, pulling his parents hands from his mouth, he continued to say, "The emperor is naked!" Soon, a few of his classmates were giggling and joined in."
After awhile adults joined their children and began to whisper, "The kids are right! The old guy has nothing on. Hes a fool and he expects us to be foolish with him."

What Americans Really Want

In his 2009 book, What Americans Really WantReally , Dr. Frank Luntz, a respected pollster who measures the heartbeat of America, asked this survey question:

If you had to choose, would you prefer to be a business owner or CEO of a Fortune 500 Company?

Those questioned responded with the following:

80% The owner of a business that employs 100 or more people.

14% The CEO of a Fortune 500 Company that employs more than 10,000 people.

6% Dont know/refused to answer.

In other words, Americans today want to be entrepreneurs . The problem is that our school system is training our kids to be employees .

This is why schoolteachers and many parents continue to say, "Go to school to get a good, high-paying job." Few parents or teachers are saying, "Go to school to learn to create good, high-paying jobs."

There is a tremendous difference between the skill sets of an employee and the skill sets of an entrepreneur. The skills required to be an entrepreneur are not taught in most schools.

Dr. Luntz found that over 70% of full-time, corporate employees are considering or have considered starting their own businesses. Many people dream of becoming entrepreneurs, but few will take the leap of faith. The lack of financial education is the primary reason why most people will remain employees. Without a financial education, most employees are terrified of losing their job, not having a steady paycheck, or simply failing.

Financial education and the transformation it delivers are essential for entrepreneurs.

Forget MBAs

Dr. Luntz goes on to state:

"So how to equip a generation of Americans for success in entrepreneurship? Forget about MBAs. Most business schools teach you how to be successful in a big corporation rather than start your own company. But starting something from scratch and nurturing it as it grows is where our country has been at its strongest and most innovative."

Killing the American Dream

Americans have always wanted to be entrepreneurs. People immigrated to Americasome enduring unimaginable hardshipsattracted by the promise of the American Dream. Millions left the oppression of the kings and queens of Europe and the tyranny of communist dictators in other parts of the world, just for a shot at the American Dream. Their American Dream.

The American Dream is just as Dr. Luntz describes: "Starting something from scratch and nurturing it as it grows is where our country has been at its strongest and most innovative."

Our schools seem to have forgotten about the American Dream. The problem is that our educational system trains students to be "A" students academics or "B" students bureaucrats . Our schools do not train our young people to be "C" students: capitalists . Furthermore, its these "C" students who so often follow an entrepreneurial path, carrying the torch of capitalism and creating new jobs.

Ask entrepreneurs today and many will tell you that bureaucracies are actively destroying the entrepreneurial spirit of capitalism.

They will also say many young graduates do not have the skills required for todays work environment. In fact, many have a "bad attitude" towards capitalists.

Hatred of Capitalists

In 2008, The Kaufman Foundation, a leading entrepreneurial think tank in America, commissioned Dr. Luntz to find out what Americans thought about capitalism. His survey found:

"Its hard to tell which has become the stronger emotion: respect for entrepreneurs or hatred toward CEOs."

In November of 2012, Hostess Brands, the maker of iconic baked goods including Twinkies and Wonder Bread, shut its doors and filed for bankruptcy protection. The CEO of Hostess claimed the company forced to shut down due to union demands for higher wages and benefits.

Making matters worse, its not just the 18,000+ workers who were affected. When the company closed, 18,000 families felt the impact as well. If there is an average of four people in a family, the number of lives impacted jumps to 72,000. This ripple effect spreads from each family, affecting schools and businesses such as dentists, grocery stores, dry cleaners, retailers, auto repair shops, even churches, and the rest of the community.

It was later disclosed that the CEO of Hostess Brands and his team of merry men and women paid themselves millions in severance bonuses.

Small wonder that Americans now hate CEOs. Many are graduates of our finest business schools and it begs the question: Is this what our business schools teach?

Unfortunately, it is.

Many of our brightest students go on to business schools, graduating with MBAs, and begin to climb the corporate ladder as employees , not entrepreneurs . The most ambitious become CEOs and executives of big business.

CEOs Are Not Capitalists

Later in this book Ill write about the fact that most CEOs are not capitalists. Most CEOs and corporate executives fall into a category called managerial capitalists , employees who work for real entrepreneursentrepreneurs like Steve Jobs, Thomas Edison, Walt Disney, Mark Zuckerberg, and othersbut who have no personal financial stake or investment in the business.

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