I also don’t fancy reading Colayco’s Pera Mo, Palaguin Mo! (Grow your money!) books. The illustrations are an okay touch but I didn’t really relate to the examples. He writes in a “you do this, you do that” tone that wasn’t conversational. I felt very detached that I just started skipping pages to see what information I could relate to. And the binding was too tight for that thick a book, so you couldn’t open up the book too much to enjoy reading it. I didn’t learn anything new. The author’s an elderly professional though so I guess a lot of people respect him and would listen to him. There are very few books written on personal finance for Filipinos. I should get started on my own soon!

I do love Science of Getting Rich and listening to Napoleon Hill. I should list a few books I like next time.

Right now, I carry around with me a hardbound Your Money and Your Man. Got it for PHP199 ($5) at the new bargain bookstore beside the department store at Walter Mart Pasay Road, Makati City.

A lot of the other books seemed common sense or things that I’ve gotten from years of reading Money Magazine. With RDPD isn’t actionable, it at least got me started thinking about a life where a 9-to-5 job isn’t necessary. I think that’s a very good thing.

Kiyosaki struck a nerve with a lot of people with RDPD. He got a lot of people thinking about earned vs. asset-based income, as several of the comments show. I found Cash Flow Quadrant to be his most interesting book. I don’t care for what he has done since, but his greed and bad judgement do not invalidate the ideas put forth in the books.

It was RDPD that got me started on thinking where I was heading financially. I did not read the book as an “idea giver”. Perhaps this is why I feel a lot more charitable to RK.

But I think he has about hit the limits on overselling. The rest of his books, are a real pain.

I’ll still have to say though that my most hated PF book is Douglas Andrew’s Missed Fortune 101. The premise behind it — borrowing against your house to buy life insurance — may be good for some people who have no other option for retirement income, but it can easily backfire and it’s very expensive. The overall advice goes counter to just about every sound piece of personal finance out there, and claims to be able to deliver a free lunch.

P.S. I agree on RDPD uselessness. Lots of talk and almost no practical implementation.

Not the worst book, but the most overrated, is probably the Automatic Millionaire. Too simple minded. No recognition of its waning applicability. Yet his designation of savings rates is apropos.

Frequently when we are very set in a paradigm it is hard to see the alternatives. I mean, 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. I mean, in my mind, 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 RDPD and YMOYL for that.

Being a fairly intuitive or abstract person, I actually prefer to get the concepts rather than the specifics. This is very person specific. Some people prefer to understand why or how things are what they are. Others prefer a 5 step program and mnemonics.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2002659152_wadecook02.html

RDPD actually was the book that introduced me to thinking about personal finance, investing, and financial education. If I hadn’t read that first I would probably be still in an apartment thinking about how I’m going to eat next week rather than a home making my plans for 2008 for taxes, retirement planning, and security. I’d say Mr Kiyosaki has accomplished his goal here.