The book is largely based on Kiyosaki's childhood upbringing and education in Hawaii. It highlights the different attitudes toward money, work, and life of two men and how they influenced key decisions in Kiyosaki's life.
Among some of the book's topics are:
- Robert Kiyosaki's personal story, upbringing, and his business and investment ventures throughout his early adult life and into the late 1990s.
- Differentiation between assets and liabilities
- What the rich teach their kids about money that the poor and middle class do not
- The base definitions of income & expenses (profit and loss statement), assets & liabilities (balance sheet), cashflow = income - expenses (statement of cashflow) as the foundation of financial literacy and education, for example, the next point.
- The concept that your primary residence is not your asset, but the banks asset and your liability (assets put money in your pocket, liabilities take money out of your pocket, ie a mortgage takes money out of your pocket and puts it into the banks pocket).
- The value of financial intelligence and financial literacy
- How stronger business and financial skills, aptitude, and experience play a role in one's financial success
- The vitality of entrepreneurial and investment skills are both necessary and useful traits to prosper in a capitalistic society
- The importance of investing and entrepreneurship in taking control of one's financial future
