Stupid Investment of the Week: Rich Dad Academy
Related: Analyzing a Kiyosaki cornerstone: Is Your Home an Asset or Liability?.
Chuck Jaffe, a writer with MarketWatch, set his sights on the Teach Me to Trade seminar last year, and ordained the event his “Stupid Investment of the Week.” This year, he attended Robert Kiyosaki’s “Rich Dad Academy,” and came to the same conclusion.
Robert Kiyosaki, whose advice is short on concrete ideas, has built an empire with his Rich Dad, Poor Dad series of books, videos, and board games, has developed a series of seminars. This is particularly ironic since his philosophy eschews education in all forms. Here’s what Jaffe has to say about this experience in the teaser seminar.
The free come-on seminar was pitching the most basic training basic real estate course, one which focuses on taking advantage of foreclosure situations and distress situations to find ways to finance your deals. While Huffman showed a diagram with 11 different three-day training courses — and he mentioned the possibility of hiring a mentor instead of going to the classes at all — the focus was just on doing the one class.
Most people might have thought they were getting a one-and-done deal and at a significant discount (attendees at the free seminar were offered the chance to register for the class, normally $995 online, for just $495). But there’s little doubt that one training seminar will lead to hard-sell pitches for others. Several members of the audience had previously paid for Rich Dad training; interestingly, the three I talked to said they have yet to turn a profit, but expect to soon.
The seminar leader focused on foreclosures, which are seen as a surefire way to make quick money thanks to the sub-prime mortgage meltdown. But there are still lots of foreclosed property shoppers as well, and competition in the marketplace is making these “investments” less favorable.
Jaffe ends with this:
Clearly, everyone who liked Huffman’s pitch and bought Rich Dad Academy training has the potential to be the next success story, but most won’t be; Kiyosaki’s advice — however flawed some people find it — has worked for at least a small-but-dedicated group of followers.
But that success story is not likely to be the “average” attendee, but rather the exceptional one, the person who dives in with a passion and single-mindedness that stand out from the crowd.
The introductory seminar was free, and you get what you pay for. If you want to learn the “66 Ways to Find Bargain Properties and Motivated Sellers” and “17 Key Internet and Realtor Search Criteria,” you have to attend a three-day seminar with the price of $1,000. Attendees were given the “opportunity” to buy their tickets for “only” $500 a piece.
Before you pay for a seminar you must do your due diligence. Ask about the success rate of people who have taken the class. If you can’t get accurate information — or worse, you’re mocked for asking a valid question — pass on the seminar. There’s no need to fatten Kiyosaki’s wallet.
A common theme in seminars, whether it’s the get-rich-quick type or the change-your-life type, is the instruction to dismiss any contrary arguments as not valid. I see that is what Jaffe experienced in this seminar. That’s also what I experienced when I was strongly suggested to attend a Landmark Education Forum. Anyone who disagrees with the effectiveness of the “education” “just doesn’t understand.”
Article comments
I enjoyed reading all the comments here and have read many of Robert’s books. Education is the key to making a better life, but you have to use your brain, you have to think, you have to create value to be rewarded. It’s really as simple as using the methods and worksheets he produces in RDPD and going out and buying one small Rental Property with the help of a Realtor who understands what you want to do or better yet, join your local Real Estate Investor Club and learn from real people in your area doing the real thing. Once you have one property that is producing POSITIVE CASH FLOW, buy another three – then hold each for 2 years, sell them, roll that money into a 1031 Exchange and buy a small Apartment Complex. Repeat. In 5-7 years you will have enough cash flow to quit your job. It’s not hard and you can’t blame others for your failure – only yourself.
Hi Luke, you wrote: “…This is particularly ironic since his philosophy eschews education in all forms.” This isn’t a true statement at all. Anyone who’s read any of Kiyosaki’s books, watched the many videos online or seen him in person knows that he states that there are 3 types of education: Academic, Professional and Financial and that he says that it is the Financial education that schools, for the most part, don’t teach and that is the area that he and his advisors focus on.
10 PM second day of seminar. So I was totally prepared for a full day of sales pitch based on the above comments. Honestly it just didn’t happen. Todays information was about 70 /30. 70% real useful real estate information. 30% sales pitch. As I said earlier I am an investor and I was very impressed with the information provided today. The last hour or so was pure sales and how to increase credit card limits and other ways to pay for the expensive follow up training. Again I looked around the room and realized most of the people there were scheming as to how they could come up with the 12 to 35 grand for advance training. It was sad to see these people figuring out how they could extend their credit so they could pay for the training. As for myself I have multiple deals in process now and I can afford the advanced training. I analyzed the tools that are included with all the advanced programs and decided my investment portfolio would benefit from the entry level advanced training. The software and search engines alone were worth the cost to me. Can you find this information on your own? Yes. However for me the automated system they have speeds up the search process enough to be worth the cost to me. I typically make a minimum of 10K on each deal and average 30K a deal. For me a 12K package training that will increase my yield by giving me more efficient tools was an easy decision. Remember what I said in my last post. ROI. For me a 12K cost would be recouped in one deal. That’s me. I know how much work it is and what I am making now. This training will improve MY efficiency and therefore a good deal for me. Most people in the room will not succeed at all. I also can write a check for the training. No credit cards or loans. For me a deductible business expense. After day 2 my conclusion is: If you have to put the training on credit cards it is probably not for you. If you can afford the training and know you can make the deals they talk about then it is a good tool. Tomorrow will be the real sales push for the class. I am going to pay close attention to who actually purchase advanced systems. From what I saw today I think a lot of people will over extend themselves to go for the golden ring. I will say the trainer said repeatedly this is your decision no pressure. He did imply that if you follow the program and got the mentor training ( an additional 6K) you will succeed. Possible but in my opinion not likely. I will post again after tomorrows final class.
So I attended the first day of my three day seminar yesterday and I am up at 3 am doing research before todays class. First, is this 3 days a sales pitch for more seminars. MOST definitely. Second, am I surprised by this? Not at all. Here’s my story. 56 years old, retired from my engineering job 2 years ago and started flipping homes last year. Netted just over 100K last year doing this. I wanted more information so I decided to check out these seminars. I want to move to bigger investments. After the first day I feel like I got enough information to cover the price of admission for this 3 day and I have 2 days to go. I am a knowledgeable investor all ready so the rah rah hype has no effect on me however most of my fellow classmates were and are starry eyed dreamers. I worked my ass off last year learning, made a few mistakes but in the end thrilled with my success. I have been an entrepreneur my entire life and know most likely 90 percent of the people in that room have no business being there because they are looking for a get rich quick plan. It doesn’t exist. Only 10 percent will succeed regardless of the money they throw at or are duped out of. I know I am in that 10 percent because I am willing to do the HARD work to get there. I figured the 300 bucks I spent on this seminar would be worth it if I learned 1 thing that would save me 300 bucks. Mission accomplished, Will I spring for the 10K to 40K for advanced training, No. But I will network with a few runners that I will most likely partner up with at some point on a deal or two. If you are considering one of these seminars have realistic expectations. Know they will try to sell you on more expensive classes. I suspect the sales team commission is as high as 50% But there is good information to learn, Before spending your money be sure you are committed to working hard. And for heavens sake don’t charge on credit cards what you can’t afford to pay back in the hopes of a quick financial payback. The risk is not worth risking your livelihood. If you haven’t heard of ROI it stands for return on investment. If you can’t afford to lose your investment don’t risk it. And if your not willing to work harder than you have in your life to gat started don’t spend a dime. You will fail. Sorry for the blunt news. If however you can risk a few hundred bucks and you are eyes wide open to the work it will take so far this seminar has been worth the price of admission for me. I’ll post again tonight after day 2.
The Rich Dad Real Estate Program is designed to do one thing. To separate you from your money. All the smoke and mirrors ‘training’ going on is simply an elaborate show, albeit very convincing. It amounts to a legal way for an education business to make (extort) large sums of money quickly from unsuspecting people. I would call it a predatory education business. Even after you have bought into a program, will will need additional money. Some for investments and some to buy additional training on areas you want to pursue. After having spent money on this joke of a program, my new hobby is to warn others to stay far far away. There are far better ways to learn real estate. Try finding an actual mentor or someone you can work under or with.
By the way, not sure what products you purchased from RD, but I might be interested in buying them from you at a discount. Lemme know.
“You are in fact working for Rich Dad.”
Sam, you are wrong. We cant understand anything through a computer so I accept your apologies. I have nothing to do with Rich Dad / Kiyosaki other than:
– purchased some paperback books on Amazon
– purchased the 3 day intro class for $300
– purchased some online elite training for $2000
I am not defending RD. I even stated his more expensive products are overpriced. The $300 intro class is nothing more than an up-sell program. I’m only taking a guess here that you are completely new to investing, self-benefit speakers & motivational seminars. They are all the same. They are all usually up-sell engagements with salesmen pushing their products really hard. They all are trained in psychology and especially in NLP techniques. Please research NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) if you have never heard of it.
Again, I have nothing to do with RD in any way shape or form other than as a customer. I am part owner of a small lucrative aerospace company in Southern California and I have several investments on the side. I originally found this thread years ago when I was doing my due diligence on Rich Dad products and seminars.
That said, there is nothing illegal about up-selling and high pressure salesmen. If you ran a company, what would you want, some lo-life lackey who looks at their cell phone every 2 minutes or someone who is a committed salesman?
“You are a paid lackey, a henchman.”
And again you are wrong.
“A slick speaker did not trick you into anything.” Is that why the Attorney General of Florida found Rich Dad Education at fault for deceptive trade practices?
In the grand scheme of things, $190K is really not a lot of money. The Attorney General is really just helping out people who didnt have the fortitude to say NO if they were being pressured into buying something they shouldnt have bought. Consider those refunds lucky. And if someone didnt get a refund, consider it a valuable (and expensive) lesson learned.
I agree RD products would be deceptive if they promised one thing and did not deliver on their signed promises. Example would be a personal coach. If you paid for one, you should always have access to one at any given time. We’ve read stories of coaches not helping, no longer calling their customers, etc. That *IS* deceptive and the money should be refunded. But if you PAID for a product and Rich Dad delivered the product to you…. In my view there was nothing deceptive at all. They cant read the manuals for you. They cant watch the training seminars for you. They cant make the calls for you. They cant put the signs on the street for you. And so on.
“…troll training RD gave you before you sign on to the various websites to harass others.”
Again, I have absolutely nothing to do with Rich Dad. The fact you keep pushing this lie tells me you are not the best judge of character which is important in business.
Remember, the only one who cares about you, is yourself. Watch YOUR bottom line. Look out for YOUR best interests. Take care of YOUR self.
Good luck in obtaining your money back. I stand by what I said before that a fool is soon parted with his money and that there are no get rich schemes out there. Its about intelligent hard work.
Sam, you were not scammed. The 3 days is really a big sales pitch with some awesome info hidden throughout. You werent man enough to say NO. I hate to be the one to tell you, but a lawyer who takes your case is also scamming you, unless you have it in writing that you pay no upfront costs, and if he loses your case, you also dont owe him anything. No lawyer I know in Southern California would take on Rich Dad. So, I think you are BS’ing everyone pretending you have a case.
A fool is soon parted with his money. Sam, looks like you are the fool (once again).
Some points to consider for everyone else….
– if you are just starting out, pay the $200 for the 3 days. its entertaining and will get your mind thinking. ways to invest, sales tactics, connections, & more.
– if this is new to you, dont buy the $50,000 programs. please use some common sense.
– as in life, its all about connections. use the 3-day to build at least 3 connections.
– at least twice a day, move to a different table
– some of the elite classes are available online for far less
– if you are already an investor and know your way around real estate, stocks, etc. these elite programs will help open up a broader world.
– one class that has really helped me out is the asset protection class. again, if you are just starting out, you dont need this class, you probably have no assets, so dont sign up for it!
Where the H to people like Sam come from? Didnt your mom teach you? “If its too good to be true, it probably is” and also… You cannot “get rich quick”. Its called hard work! You bought the class, what hard work have you put into it?
Uugggghhhhh.
Hey, richerdad off of other people’s money (the one’s you scammed into phony real estate trainings).
I found your comment so utterly unintimidating. You richdad employees always find and respond to complaints against your scam operation while pretending to be fellow customers. You are phony and can be seen a mile away. You RD employees always say the exact same things when replying…and always with the same childish attitude. There are good people posting on this site…and you can’t stop them or me. I am not beaten down as you would hope. Your reply actually gave me a good laugh. I look forward to seeing your kind at trial. Since you enjoyed my comment so much, I will say again to the real people (RD employees not included):
I was scammed in Texas. A slick speaker tricked me and others into signing up for multi-thousand dollar, phony trainings. I hired a good lawyer and we are going to take them to court whether or not richerdad can fathom that with his overinflated, yet intellectually deficient ego. If you were ripped-off by RD in Texas, please email me at smfrk@yahoo.com. I believe we can help each other. I wish everyone financial health and freedom from this dirty company.
P.S. For those of you who are not aware, this company was forced in 2012 to repay $194,897.83 to consumers identified by the Florida Attorney General’s Office; and– The company must pay $500,000.00 to the Florida Attorney General’s Office as reimbursement for costs and fees incurred. It seems that RD is not working hard enough! The Attorney General’s Office of Florida understands that they are ripping people off. The below paragraph comes from the BBB’s website. I hope I haven’t made you too mad, richerdad, as this info. may interrupt the flow of ill-gotten revenue to the dishonest company that you work for.
FLORIDA: On July 2, 2012, a Consent Agreement and Final Order was entered finalizing the Florida Attorney General’s action against the company, alleging violations of Florida’s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act (Case Number 2012-CA-8543-O, filed in the Circuit Court of the Ninth Judicial Circuit in Orange County, Florida). The terms of the Consent Agreement are:– The company can only use consumer endorsements that accurately depict the actual experiences of the consumers’ who have used the company’s products or services;– The company may not use any consumer endorsement that does not accurately depict the experiences that are representative of those that consumers usually achieve from the use of the company’s products or services; — The company must clearly disclose the total price of the products and services the consumer cited in their endorsement which the consumer received for free or at a discounted price not regularly available to all consumers; — The company cannot engage in deceptive price comparisons;– The company must maintain a list of all products and services related to real estate investment education and will clearly disclose the list on any website or person-to-person advertisement it uses to advertise its services related to real estate investment education;– The company must pay $194,897.83 to consumers identified by the Florida Attorney General’s Office; and– The company must pay $500,000.00 to the Florida Attorney General’s Office as reimbursement for costs and fees incurred. – See more at: http://www.bbb.org/west-florida/business-reviews/investment-seminars/rich-dad-education-in-cape-coral-fl-6095131#sthash.Y8GYfEzp.dpuf
I am absolutely in no way affiliated with Rich Dad or Kiyosaki. I picked the moniker “richERdad” because through hard work, I am richer. Through hard work and (some) knowledge obtained thanks to Kiyosaki, Tony Robbins, Carnegie, Jordan Belfort, etc. I take a little bit of knowledge from everyone. NOTHING IN LIFE IS EASY. You have to put in the long hours, the hard work, the sleepless nights, the fights with the spouse, the traveling, the special days missed, etc, etc.
A slick speaker did not trick you into anything. You willfully signed some paper work that 95% of everyone else didnt fall for. I mean how *&$#@* can you be? Honestly think about what you’ve done and probably how many other times in life you have been tricked. Stop acting like a beta male that is forlorn like a little girl. You really give all us other guys a bad rep.
Like I said before, no attorney is going to take your case bro unless its a class action and I really doubt you will find that many people who were tricked. Lets walk through the court case….
JUDGE: Mr Sam, did you sign this paperwork?
SAM: Yes, your honor. But I was tricked.
JUDGE: Did they force you to sign the paperwork? Held a gun to you?
SAM: No. No your honor.
JUDGE: Case dismissed. Next.
Please explain right here in front of everyone how you were tricked and slicked talked. It will help EVERYONE else doing research and what to avoid.
Are Rich Dads products overpriced? Ohhh heck yes. Ridiculous prices! But for people who already have money, the extra knowledge is great. If $10,000 is a lot to you, you shouldnt be buying it. Thats really the bottom line here.
After the 3-day $300 intro course (mine was $300 in Los Angeles) I decided to buy more Kiyosaki books on Amazon. Ive expanded into other books, but I do a lot of stock trading so I decided to sign up for their elite online stock classes… I think it was around $2000. I also network with local investing groups, attend conferences, own a couple extra income properties and am buying property overseas now to move assets around. I never bought the $20K-$50K programs because none of it made sense from a financial or business perspective. Some due diligence is whats needed when making big decisions like that. And terrible money making decisions with money you dont have or could afford to lose is why our government is $17.5 trillion dollars in debt.
If you think money will come to you, you are sadly mistaken. It takes massive amounts of energy and hard work. What I see with most Rich Dad people… they max out their credit cards or spend what little money they have thinking they will get rich quick and when they find out they cannot comprehend the material or its just “too much work” involved, they give up.
If you are really into some of the stuff Rich Dad opened your eyes to, you can network with people at investment groups and buy or trade the same info for pennies what you paid.
PS.. Sam… Next time you are at a county fair, please keep walking past the people selling those time shares. Hey, Im just trying to help you out 😉
richerdad, little richard, or whatever sweet moniker you feel proud of,
You are in fact working for Rich Dad. So you are actually going on a website to defend Rich Dad’s honor out of the goodness of your heart? No. You do work for them…there would be no other reason for you to troll around on consumer advocacy websites to bully others who have been ripped off by RD. You are not trying to help me out, but to defend your masters. You must be pretty low-level in your company. The ones on the attack for RD on the consumer websites are not making near the killing in dishonest gain that their comrades at the seminars are. By the way, I have been to all the websites you and the other RD-paid-lackeys troll at and have seen the same bully tactics–insinuating that those who were ripped off are not a man, no one forced me into it, stop whining like a little girl, I’m just trying to help you out, etc. Been there, read that before. Your sarcasm is most juvenile. It didn’t bother me either that you also went so far as to make a hypothetical conversation between me and a judge. Desperate much? You are a paid lackey, a henchman. Perhaps some more RD tech support training could help you appear to be more believable in future postings on the various sites you are told to frequent.
To quote you, “A slick speaker did not trick you into anything.” Is that why the Attorney General of Florida found Rich Dad Education at fault for deceptive trade practices? Is that why RD was ordered to refund customers $194,897.83 and to repay the Attorney General’s office half a million in legal fees and court costs? Your lame posts won’t fool anyone on this site. So these people were not entitled to the money they were swindled out of? The state of Florida believed so. I guarantee you, none of those consumers had a gun placed to their head when they signed up for phony RD trainings, yet they were entitled to a refund. It is called deceptive trade practices. States have laws against them. If you think that people in CA couldn’t win a lawsuit against RD, you are mistaken there as well. But go ahead, keep trying to spread your fear and misinformation. I’ll keep exposing RD and there is nothing you can do to shout me down or stop me. I am not intimidated or embarrassed by anyone who speaks the way you do. Your swearing at me in symbols shows the level you operate on.
I feel very underwhelmed by your greatness. Your Rich Dad lecture about nothing being easy (after RD already has already taken the funds–it’s funny how they sing a different tune after you sign!), and hard work is laughable. You don’t even know my background, occupation, or what I do for a living, however you certainly do revert quickly to the troll training RD gave you before you sign on to the various websites to harass others. Your childish assumptions and labels have no impact on me.
Furthermore, your legal advice is deliberate, premeditated idiocy. I sought legal advice from a professional attorney, not a scammer defending his company behind a computer. When is the last time you sought legal advice from a paid blogger? You couldn’t even give yourself legal advice. How are you going to give it to others?
I wish visitors to this site financial health, wellness, and success knowing that many come to these sites searching for answers after being victimized by fraud. RD has hurt people from all walks of life, even families with small, dependent children. It is no laughing or scoffing at matter as littlerichard believes. I honor those of you who have been scammed and don’t take your loss lightly. You can win. Don’t give up! Don’t let soulless, hired bloggers shout you down or discourage you from seeking justice. They are insignificant, low-level employees in the organization. I am going after the big fish. If RD took advantage of you in Texas, email me at smfrk@yahoo.com. I may be able to be of some assistance. I wish you all a bright future.
I meant to say phony trainings. The training I attended was so bad, so manipulative, and so lacking in substance, that “fluff trainings” even gives RD too much credit.
I was scammed in Texas. A slick speaker tricked me and others into signing up for multi-thousand dollar, fluff trainings. I hired a good lawyer and we are going to take them to court. If you were ripped-off by RD in Texas, please email me at smfrk@yahoo.com. I believe we can help each other.
Tell me about it – these criminals got $300 from us by coming to Simi Valley for an informational evening and feeding us with lies by telling us they would be holding future seminars in our area — IN OUR AREA — it’s now been close to a year, if not over, and there has not been a single seminar anywhere within two hours each way of OUR AREA. We can’t even go the classes if we wanted to — with responsibilities at home, we can’t spend 4 hours on the road each day 3 days out of the week and we can’t afford to stay overnight. Now, months and months down the road, I find out that they have been charging my credit card $39.95 each and every month since we attended the first event and carelessly threw $300 into the trash that is this Rich Dad seminar. IT’S ALL ONE BIG SCAM — Rich Dad, Poor Schmucks (that’s us by the way). Not happy at all, and they won’t do anything about it other than tell us we can travel to San Francisco, San Diego and parts beyond.
For those who cannot afford the $10K-$50K or to those who are not sure in themselves, I have a recommendation.
Go to these low cost intro classes and learn what you can. Sure these are all about upselling you, but you dont have to buy… Its not really that high pressure. Just say no thanks, not interested. The real key to this or any business is going to be the connections you make. When they tell you dont sit in the same place for 3 days in a row, its to get you to do something different, think outside the box, explore options and meet new people. If you are having any trouble grasping the basic vague stuff they give you (its not all vague and you do have some workbooks) ask questions. To the speakers, to other people attending, etc.
The key here is connections! Maybe a few months or a year down the road one of those contacts can help you. There are real estate and investment groups all around the country. Check the Meetup website for these. There are Rich Dad meetup groups too. Go to those! Its all about connections! Most of them are casual, they play the RD board game, they talk and chat. This is all about connections. Build them!!! Learn from them!
I never did buy they expensive courses. There are plenty of people in those meetup groups who did and you can learn from them. Many people are also selling those workbooks for a few hundred dollars if you really want the info but dont want to drop the $10K. Remember, its all about purchase price 😉
You dont start a bread making company with zero knowledge of breads. You learn from experts and people who have already walked that path and then you take what youve learned and make it your own.
After almost 3 years, nothing has changed. I trusted his brand too much that I failed to check on product reviews. After attending the free seminar you are given the connotation that you will learn the strategic essentials in real estate business. Contacts of Investors, power team, mentors etc. From day 1 of the seminar, we have been handed out the other training offerings from $11k++ to $50k+. At the end of the first day I lost my spirit. Being sold the idea of the course over and over about an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon. Giving the impression that you can only be one of the successful if you take the $50k elite program. In as much as I didn’t want to attend day 2, I did for the sake of getting my money’s worth. And then again, much of the selling. On the 3rd day out of the 5 hours that is left for the last day, 4 hours was spent proving how much you need to take the course. In dire need to sell, one mentor “Trevor” took over the remaining class who did not sign up for advance class. Telling us he does not understand Benita for letting us learn more about wholesale and mobile home when it should be in a separate course. Again, only to further insist the need of their program or at the very least, their software. Trever was obviously frustrated, negative and seems annoyed at the participants. Some walked out. I would not blame them, I would have too if not for the thought that it wouldn’t matter since I’m paying full day parking already. Yes we did all learn something but this entire seminar was more of hard selling their advance education. This just made me realize what industry I want to be in and people I want to work with…
Wow, where to start? I went to the 1 day, 3 day, and became involved in RD. I am sincere in saying what I will say with respect to all. I came up the “old fashioned way” Work hard, save, be smart with your money. But my late mother gave me the best advice I have recieved to this point. She told me to look around you son, listen to those that have a track record to back up their stories. Spend your time with those who are interested in bettering themselves, and in helping you to do the same. I have no reason to doubt some of the stories about “scams.” Not getting a refund. And many others very similar. I am truly sorry that was your experience. No doubt, this should be investigated!! Some of you know this is coming already. That was not my experience. I really do care about those who didn’t benefit, or were seemingly ripped off. My mentors in life told me to invest in myself. They were right. No plugs are allowed. But consider investing in your own thinking. Not some “right or wrong” pitch. Just the simple truth in how we think, why we think what we do. On another post, regarding “Landmark?” a gentleman was concerned how he would be able to keep a friendship with someone he had know for 20 years. I’m not familar with landmark, but this friend went. I believe he was studying to be a physiologist of some type.Can’t recall his friend’s occupation. I can’t comment about landmark, but I couldn’t help considering who he would consider as a failure in one of his future clients? In a perfect world, none. For that matter we wouldn’t need his services! Does this sound like the type of friend who will eventually use the same ideology he invested in on her? Don’t know. But she may want to consider seeking more positive thinking friends. Just a thought. Sorry for straying so far from my original post. I am not on the dole, nor a spokesperson for RD. Don’t care to be. Just interested in how people think. So to end the story, I looked around my place of business and saw people who lacked the hard work my mother told me about. Not all. But the majority. Work hard son. The majority won’t. And be ready for those who choose to drag you down for no other reason than you make them look bad. Seems most people know someone like that, just not them…,? I have made 3 deals, and used what I learned to get involved in a business situation that has already paid for my education. I myself did not do well in school. My spelling and grammar are most likely a dead giveaway. I have never enjoyed seeing another fail. Nor gain from it. But this is the world she(mom) told me about. I believe in good competition. But so many look first at why they will fail. Look at why it will work. Again, to those genuinely hurt, I hope you are somehow compensated. To the rest. Maybe a good place to start would be to look inward?
Blessings to all that are making the journey of life. Something we are all going through.
It seems that there is no any guaranty for declared success after you paid your £500 for the classes. It looks more like an enthusiastic promotion and persuasion of 3 days courses in general. I was approached by one of their employees at free seminar in London and persuaded further. When I have asked about success rate and stressed my disbelieve they told me that I was too negative?! I am sure they are only sincere they got your money for signing and books.
I think people aren’t taking enough responsibility for their own actions in many of these other comments. Wealth takes time to and effort, and expecting to attend one seminar and then become rich is unrealistic. Of course you’ll make mistakes and holding someone else responsible for your mistakes is another foolhardy way of not learning from them and destining yourself to a life of financial mediocrity. That being said, I’ve never been to one of his full seminars, just two of the free ones where they pitch the bigger ones to you. I’ve also read three of his books and listened to a fourth on tape.
So far, I have found his advice very useful. While I’m not rich, I did buy a foreclosure, got a good deal on it, fixed it up, put a renter in the spare bedroom and now am generating a small monthly cash flow while owning a property that has already increased in equity several thousand dollars just through improving it. I’m not saying this is the end of the road, it’s only the beginning of my financial journey, but I wouldn’t have been able to do it without Kiyosaki’s information.
Many of your comments definitely fall on the E/S side they so described in the 3 day seminar. The biggest thing we should get out of it is how the government is counting on us middle incomers as their rats in the wheel. Then vote, act, work, and make different decisions in our current lives even if we don’t do any advanced training. I personally do not want to be relying on only my current middle income job when the market comes crashing down. What they said has VERY valid points and should not be discounted, sales pitch or no.
I am now attending the workshop that is in my area. I have just completed an exhaustive day 1 of the workshop. If it weren’t for the fact that I paid for it, I probably wouldn’t go back. I think the strategies are authentic and true to form. However, I am upset because it is too much information in too little time. Besides, we have homework on top of that. Additionally, the initial presentation given 2 weeks ago was very misleading. I was under the impression that we were enrolled in the Rich Dad Education and would be given a mentor in the workshop only to discover that more classes will be required in the advanced education levels before a mentor is given. I like what they are doing. I just don’t like how they are doing it, but apparently it has worked for them. It would seem to me that a mentor would be most beneficial in the beginning stages – not in the advanced. Moreover, I have an issue with charging people thousands of dollars to enroll in training, if there is such a sincere interest in giving people a way out and helping them. The average person can’t afford to spend $11K – $45K on training classes. I think they should be more affordable to the average person, and they should be more forthcoming in the 2-hr presentation about what to expect in the 3-day workshop.
My wife and I have just completed the three day course at a cost of $199 and I have to agree with the few that it was money well spent. As a person new to the idea of investing in real estate it was very informative and I felt very motivated afterwards. For me Rich Dad sold us a solution and a business model which we will adopt to some degree. Yes they spent some time up-selling advanced modules, (that was to be expected as I doubt the $199 each attendee spent would have covered all of their expenses) but they also taught a lot of basics and answered all of our questions. We did not sign up for the advanced courses, but we would not rule it out for the future. We have however, begun our journey to becoming real estate investors with the education and materials they provided us with.
My post isn’t about the Seminars but the Rich Dad Coaching Program. If the below experience is anything to extrapolate by, then form your own conclusions about the efficacy and usefulness of the Seminars.
Look at the reviews online about the Rich Dad Coaching Program. Mostly negative. Here’s my own personal experience with one of the reps calling about the Coaching Program.
I got a call from a Kathy Davis. By this time, I had read enough negative reviews online, so I decided to put her to the test.
When she called, I thanked her for taking the time to call me. I told her that I’d spoken to a couple of friends who had gone through the coaching program and they’d advised me that this program “was for beginners” and not someone like me.
She proceeded to give me her scripted lines and I told her that there was no point talking about it any further. I then proceeded to thank her once again for her time to call me and wish her well when suddenly and abruptly, *CLICK!* – Kathy Davis, General Manager of the Rich Dad Coaching Program hung up on me.
I’m glad that I’d put her to the test. She failed miserably (and by extension, so did the company she represents as General Manager).
My take: buy the books and read them (the ones I read are Rich Dad Poor Dad, Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing and Conspiracy of the Rich – good info in there if you know how to find diamonds in the rough). Then formulate your own strategy for financial success and stick to it fastidiously. There’s no need for you to get into ridiculous and unnecessary debt over something that you can learn yourself with a hundred bucks in books and a few weeks’ worth of research on the Net.
Hey,
Just finished the $199 3 day seminar in Tampa, FL on stock trading. While it’s true that it doesn’t go in depth (come on, it is 3 days!), I learned a lot of information about stocks, the market, systems of success, etc. You have to be willing to work at it though. Like most, I didn’t have $30 – $50K available to get into the program (some levels start with a $25K required investment for trading, and go up from there). Besides that, Scott, the trader that spoke to us for 3 days didn’t give us a hard sales pitch, but he did point out that more actionable knowledge is required to become truly successful. Overall, a good class, and something to get your creative juices flowing about something new and different!
How is the MachTrade software. I have not seen many comments about it. The main topic is the cost of the course but for those actually make use of the information and software I just don’t have much to go on. Maybe the people taking just the 3 courses and rolling into MachTrader are too busy being productive and don’t have time to report their results. I would like to hear from someone who has put the effort in successful or not.
Lots of negative feed back from people that DID NOT take any of the advanced stock options. I took 4 advanced classes with a 3day mentorship. My opinion of them just taking the classes alone felt like i was being ripped off. BUT after taking my mentorship was WOW…i sat down with a guy making thousands everyday from the markets CASHFLOW…some of the mentors have even owned multi million dollar hedge funds and are very elite traders. I feel that if trading is what really interests you then go for it….BUT let me warn you! around %90 that do sign up for classes QUIT because trading is not EASY..even though they paid thousands…but if you stock to it and learn from the mentors you will be fine..my two cents .. and I hope that helps
Sorry, but I don’t believe you. All you’ve done is HYPE HYPE HYPE them and I know longer believe it. Cried wolf too many times.
Some people are so funny! Do you really expect a class to teach you to get off you butt and build a business? I have never paid for one of these classes, I have however latched onto successful local investors who have and built successful businesses as a result of these classes.
I have found that most successful people are willing to freely share their knowledge with others and love to teach if you are eager to learn. If you are just out to make fast money you won’t get far, real estate especially is a people business and networking and building the business around other investors, contractors, real estate agents, brokers, and title agents (all the people who move the business) is the only way to be successful. You have to give back to the investor community, you help others and they think of you when they find syndicated opportunity. If you aren’t a good honest person and you don’t have the best for everyone in mind when you make decisions you may have some small wins but you won’t go far.
If you think you can be successful in this business without building relationships with and without relying on others you are sadly mistaken, even if you have millions of dollars you can only be so successful without being a good person and building quality relationships with people who can assist in your success and vise versa.
Many good people (Investors I have met through local organizations) have changed my life not only by teaching me how to build wealth but by demonstrating through their actions that there are good people in the world who are not just out for their own success. There are many ways to learn this business weather by paying for the classes or by finding good people who have learned the material and are willing to share but if you don’t want it bad enough, if you don’t put in the work to be successful you won’t be! No class is going to do everything for you and the people who complain about the classes are the type of people who think spending thousands of dollars on a class will guarantee prosperity. Silly silly people!
This sounds like solid common business sense! I am not a business person but would like to become one (real estate investor) It’s hard to get introduced to successful people in this business. I’d like to start somewhere. If I do eventually, then I will run with it and won’t stop. Just hard in the meantime, though.. .
That’s So true auspiciousinaz. It’s all about Networking. Did you meet most of these successful ppl by joining a rei club? You can email me if you can at cierremoslosojos at yahoo. Thanks in advance.
You people need to realize that there are two types of 3-day training. The first costs $13,000 depending what you pick. I’m already an investor who is doing pretty well. I just got back from my 3rd day on the first 3-day and I’ve learned a lot of information that I didn’t know existed which is already worth more than the $199.00 I paid to attend. I didn’t take a guest because I knew they would distract me and not understand what to look and listen for.
The average person who is looking to GET RICH QUICK training will have a hard time taking in what is offered while a passionate person will get a hell of a lot more out of it. RD never said they would make anyone rich, they said they could teach you some of the ways to go about it.
If you really take the info they give you (even in the first 3-day) and apply it the right way, you will make money. I can promise you that the people yelling “scam” here did not even come close to doing that. You have to do something in order to make something. Cash won’t be waiting at the door when you leave the conference room.
(.The first 3-day is 199.00 and the second starts @ $13,000) sorry
Hey everybody I just signed up for the wealthmaster stock/options…..just kidding. Seriously the 199.00 intro was well worth it as far as getting a basic idea if this is a way I want to earn extra money. Not so sure I want to spend a gazillion for added training and the mentorship but the 3 day infomercial has some nuggets in it. This info has some value. Perhaps there is a millionaire stock trader near or in my town I could just pay $5000.00 to allow me some one on one training after I have a better understanding of the material and some basic trade experience. Well, tomorrow Ill see if they let me back in for the day 3 pitch. Good luck to all who post here and especially to those who paid what seem like exorbitantly inflated fees.
Just came back from the 3-day seminar. My friend invited me as her “free guest”. She paid $199 after attending the 90 min session several weeks before. We all knew for whatever we paid that this was going to be a teaser sales pitch just to get you excited. Honestly, did you think for even $500 you would be able to master any of the techniques?
No, I did not purchase the advanced training, however of the 140 attendees, I would say 25 did purchase some kind of education. The friend who I attended with purchased the $26K training, not sure if that included 3 days with a mentor in her field area. I feel anyone who attended is looking to change their future. I love real estate (licensed), would love to learn how to invest using creative financing. There has to be other education/training out there.
Whatever you do, DO NOT get sucked in (like I did) by the very motivational speaker(s), who are there just to sell this program. I paid for the 3-day seminar, then, when attending that, was encouraged by my partner at the time to purchase the all-out training, complete with mentor and all, for (gasp!) around $24,000!! Yes, that’s right, then paid another $5,000 for more personal training (online and 1-hour phone calls) but I ended up getting NOTHING out of the ordinary for this so-called training, except for Bankruptcy! Oh yes, and a cd they send me because apparently there is a limit on the time that they will extend you the training. Somehow I thought it was for a lifetime, but guess who was WRONG, and once they had my money, they really didn’t care about me, or that I was about to face bankruptcy because I had “invested” all my money for a bag full ob books, manuals, etc., which comprised of just about anything you can find for free online now. Consider VERY CAREFULLY before you spend any of your hard-earned money on the Rich Dad program training. I lost all my retirement savings and if I could go back, I wouldn’t even attend the Free Seminar! BEWARE friends… There may be some that are successful, but I didn’t feel I got much support once they had my money. I hope this gets posted, it is just my experience…
I agree with all comments. During my recent 3 day training, we were told that a job is a jail and we are all serving prison terms in our “corner cells.” That was rather funny and, ironically, sounded very true. The instructor was very convincing and there were a few that went ahead and purchased the advanced training. As tempted as I was, I knew I had to do some due diligence and do a quick search for comments regarding these programs. I’m so glad I found all your comments and the Canadian “expose” video. I decided not to tell anyone about this because I believe everyone must do their own due diligence. Unfortunately, I was asked to share what I found out and one young lady became quite angry as, apparently, she was very determined to purchase the training. All I can say is good luck! At any rate, I did learn a few things at the 3 day training since I am involved in real estate. But I quickly realized that I will need to learn a lot more than their advanced training provides and I can learn it without paying thousands of dollars for it. By the way, the instructor became increasingly disturbed by our lack of participation. He said that in all of his 315 classes he’s taught, he has never seen such low participation. He must have said this for about a half hour trying a last ditch effort to get the rest of us to sign up.
Jobs can be an okay way to gather starting capital, but it’s not something I’d consider a high priority. The second I run out of time for it, I’m dropping it. I just need one to take the sting off my absolutely pathetic losing streak devoid of any risk management. Truth is, a lot of people enjoy their jobs and I’d be an asshole to call them slaves. Just because I can’t find joy in working for others doesn’t mean no one else should. Business is rough and I’m a tortured piece of living proof. I don’t blame them for not trying it out.
In fact, I envy anyone who can enjoy work for others, because they probably won’t suffer as much as me in the upcoming decades that I devote to waging this masochistic war against mediocrity.
I went to the Rich Dad 3 day training in New York last weekend. Like Joseph I paid $199. My advice in a nutshell – DON’T DO IT!
If you’re fond of wasting your money and your time, then feel free to attend. I knew the course received bad reviews, but decided to go anyway. I’m someone who usually wants to try out certain things for myself. This was one time that I was sorry for doing so.
You can find most of the information they “teach” on the internet. They do not give you enough information for you to start investing if you are a complete newbie. Anyone who is investing after attending this training probably already has some decent knowledge of real estate. The program is basically a very broad overview of a few commonly known strategies, and of course a sales pitch for their higher priced programs.
Real estate investing is for me, but this wasn’t. Save your money and spend it on some useful books that will help you build a foundation. There is plenty of good information out there if you’re willing to look for it. Stay away from the snake oil!
wow, DELETE COOKIES
I attended the 3-day class July 22-24, 2011 in Richardson Texas for $199, so to all those who paid more…all the people who left a negative comment had inflated expectations about what they would learn, or all the information presented flew over their heads.
I have taken Texas real estate classes, read books, attended seminars and webinars and I still heard some things that I have never heard before. It was great information. It gave me simple steps to follow where I could go out and close a deal right now! And I am working hard at closing a wholesale deal right now. I’ll post my check when I close.
And consumerism commentary.com are dumb – they talk bad about Rich Dad, yet have his banners plastered all over their website…wow
If you see ads for Rich Dad, they are provided by a third party, based on the content of this article as well as your own browsing history.
Follow-up,
WHY did I get a Motovational Bracelet? I thought the seminar was “Basic Real Estate training.
“Failure is Not an Option” (that’s what my bracelet says).
2 hours of training? Take the cash flow game and copy the deal cards and you will have learned MORE than they taught you. They call it teaching, but will NEVER answer your question, saying you’re stupid and need Advanced Training.
Tag words:
SCAM – Tigrent Learning Rich Dad Poor Dad Robert Kiyosaki Kim Kiyosaki Lee Escobar
Cancellations: The teacher makes you PROMISE you’ll go to the first training before you make up your minds to cancel. WHAT a CROCK!! If you attend the first class next week (7 days), you’ll have gone passed the amount of time (3 days from date of receiving the products) and they will NOT let you cancel!! TOO LATE! you have been suckered.
I am angry that I WAS suckered and paid $32,000, my life savings. WEEE need to make sure they go out of business!! I am gathering all my notes and will share to help the next NICE guy / family to not get suckered. I am hoping someone has already contacted a lawyer so I can join in too. Here are a few notes:
THE PUPPET MASTER! Lee Escobar – They are good!!
Lee used his fact he was a chaplain to gain respect and said he was sent here to help us!
– Yelled at for asking a question on day 1. Stared at til I sat down. 2 bathroom breaks a day and NO Networking or talking. The OTHER people in the class are stupid and you should not talk with them. Gee, this guys is a millionare and drives a Bent-LEE, I better listen, he’s must be doing something right.
– making the “L” Loser sign over his forehead forced us to say “savings and 401K’s are for LOSERS”
– Cancellation Forms are ready cause they KNOW a few will bow and, but 50% is better than nothing.
– lady couldn’t sign up Today, she was black-listed and can’t attend any other Seminar.
– Evaluation forms are rigged, so they get the right answers.
– every speaker and Team Leader is affluent in preaching to mass church audiences
– Over 3 days, actual training: 2 hours, BUT actually UPSELLING: 22 hours.
– Forced us to say Yah Man after EVERY thing & topic.
– Every 3 hours, Forced us to say “YES” I agree Tigrent is teaching us what we signed up for. WHAT A CROCK OF BS.
– Showed us a mobile home binder presentation that was horrible and a 5th grader project. Showed pics of what a Mobile Home looks like, but NEVER showed the real ones, or even the Plot where it was supposedly being done.
– Side note: another complaintant says the Software has fixed to show GREAT numbers, but is wrong.
The financial freedom train sounded sooo nice, I found myself sucking up to the Millionare Lee Escobar to he would like me more, and then teach me the best.
I’m mad at myself for not walking up to him and punching him. He has NO Morals or Ethics. I did not expect this behavior from a chaplain. Uhhhh, is he really a chaplain? Who gets off on using that for their benefit?
Rich Dad lets this go for 5 years now, under 2 different companies, Whitney and Tigrent Learning. Robert needs to pay for this too. He cashes EVERY check he gets for this.
Hey Dave The Sucker…. are you real? Im going around the net right now reading pro and cons of RD and you are posting the same post, but different amounts youve lost… $32k, $36k, $34k, $40k… which is it???? Did you even lose money to begin with?
Look, sorry you got suckered, BUT what are you doing to invest? What deals are you trying to work on? Its up to YOU to make things happen. Right? They cant hold your d**k every time you need to piss. Seriously. Be a man, grow up… you paid the money, stop whining like a 5 year old and go to the courses, learn from the mentor and whatever else you paid $30k – something for.
If you went to college and spent that sort of money, and didnt get a job… whos fault is it then? The school? or YOU!
Nice one I Still like Rich Dad. WELL PUT LOL
Dave, please email me at smfrk@yahoo.com. I hired a lawyer and have started a lawsuit against the crooks at RD. Perhaps we can be of assistance to one another.
THANKS TO YOU ALL HAVE SAVED ME FROM GETTING IN REAL TROUBLES i WAS JUST TO SIGN FOR THE MOST RECOMENDED ADV. COURSE THE 30,000 DOLLAR ONE THANKS TO EVERY BODY
If you have 30k to spend you have many opportunities to build relationships with local investors and start doing deals, you can learn from others as you go. I always find the least expensive way to get as much knowledge as I can and networking with local investor groups has given me plenty of free education and enabled me to take that knowledge to build a cash flow business with less than 6k in savings when I started! As a result I have been able to leave one of my jobs and am transitioning into leaving my other 2 jobs and becoming a full time investor;) Best of luck to you!
Even trying to network with the right people can be next to impossible. Like one commenter said, investors can be greedy and use you. You’re always at a risk when you don’t know something and are trying to learn. Really disgusting the way some people can be in this world.
No failures No Success No Risk No Reward : )
Hi all,
Of course the free seminar is a sales pitch! Interestingly enough, the 3 day real estate seminar is now 2 for 1 @ $199 now. Which makes it probably worth it. They will try to sell you more seminars but YOU have the power to decide.
The material they give you to review is not too bad and if you negotiate a bit you can grasp more books when they present them to you. I got for $50 of books fro free by just attending.
Now they will sell you the Cash Flow game, but you can play it online for free on http://www.richdad.com, so refrain from buying it.
Now, what I think is interesting is that you can become consciously incompetent: you will then know what is left for you to learn in order to succeed… Then find this information at the library or your local bookstore, and by networking with other investors. Watch out for that too, investors can be greedy and use you, if they have a good tip they will probably not tell you or they will lose their competitive advantage. Just make friends and find good contractors.
Still, you have to be genuinely interested in real estate. My dad was a real estate investor in another country so I just want to figure how it works here. It’s hard work and no “get rich quick”, but if you are serious about it you can make a good living out of it… Still, it’s risky and time consuming. Not for everybody’s mindset.
Take care everyone.
People, there are some things which are good about what you read or hear but you must use your heads. Why buy this information when you can read it for free? You can get his books from a library for free.
I subscribe to the believe of staying debt free. If you let greed take over your brains you will get burned. The ideas in his books can be done without going into debt.
Hey dorks and duffiss’s ; the seminar is not a get rich quick class that you as the little general may be use to. The reason why america is in trouble is because of people like you,who want to get something for nothing, wake up!. You must do the work first. Are you that stupid to think you will profit instantly from one seminar its a learning tool you “tool”. Maybe you need to invest in a ponzi scheme so you feel better now and loose your ass later when someone Madoff with you cash. Go flip a house and stand under it when it comes down. Learn something grasshopper!!!!!!.
Why does Chaplain get off SCAMMING poor people? Using his calling to gain your trust, calling poor people LOSERS? Telling us to Shut Up and Sit Down!
I was dupped by Millionare Chaplin Lee Escobar!
I may not be like Lee Escobar, but atleast I have my morals.
scam tigrent rich dad Robert Kiyosaki Mentor & Chaplin Lee Escobar.
Scamming using gods callings to promote your gain = No Liency to Prosecute.
You are so right more people need to see this I invested into more knowledge and I got if from that course I don’t know what people want Robert to do ? I know give them a million dollars lol people are for much and very lazy I could tell by the comments people don’t take investing serious the fact still remains you can’t teach every one to be rich I got so much more from the class
I too have been duped by Rich Dad! We signed up last Sept. for a 3 day conference, when they told us the up coming date we were unable to attend, but we were reassured to pay the reduced rate that night and it guaranteed us the spot for the next one in our area. (Which would be soon) They assured us we would be kept notified, we were not. I have had to continually call and check, it is May and nothing is coming up for our area. I have notified them and requested a refund they say I according to the contract I had 3 days and I’m not allowed a refund. They have no seminar as they promised and I’m not allowed a refund. If any one out there can tell me who I turn this company into for unsound business practices please let me know.
Unfortunately, you are committed to attending the seminar. The contract does say you have 72 hours to change your mind and get a refund. But if you wait beyond that time, your have to attend. I would like to say though and I hope this is some consolation to you that the seminars are wildy cheap compared to the advanced classes. Those could send you into bankruptcy!
This post is in reference to the Rich Dad Stock/Option Investing seminar.
I attended the free intro session, and found it interesting enough to attend the three-day, $495 seminar. I am not a professional trader, but I have taken investing classes, used on-line brokerage accounts (for stocks), and have a mixed portfolio of stocks, mutual funds, IRAs, 401Ks, etc. While I dissappointed with the limited amount of solid investing information provided, I felt the seminar was worth the time and money I invested in it for the following reasons:
1. I learned about the “technical” approach to identifying and assessing potential stock/option purchases (using the EduTrader/MachTrader software). Previously I was familiar only with the “fundamentals” approach (assessing a companies management, available cash, P/E, etc.)
2. I was exposed to the various types of options available to the investor (put/call, straddle, strangle, bi-directional, etc). It wasn’t a lot of information, but the instructor explained well enough that I could understand the differences (I left with 25-30 pages of notes, in addition to written comments in the workbook)
3. The EduTrader software and Intro to Options CDs have been very useful
4. I received the Course Catalog for their Advanced Training. I won’t be taking the Advanced Training, but the catalog provides enough information about the topics that you can use it to order books about the topics
I also have to agree with several of the previous posts. You will not learn everything you need to know to start making millions of dollars in stocks/options. This seminar is a sales pitch for you to take additional advanced courses, and pay from $9,500-$39,500. They will recommend you do what ever it takes to pay for the advanced training (max out your credit cards, home equity loan, etc).
If you are generally familiar with investing, would like to receive a guide for a more structure approach to learning, and have a degree of self-discipline to study on your own, this can be a positive experience. Just be prepared for the hard-core salesmanship.
It is what it is. But The courses are 2 for 1 at $500. I went splits with someone at the seminar. In the package were 3 books and an instruction manual for the course. Plus a richdad gym bag. You also get a reduced subscription to esignal a savings of $20 bones per month for life. I don’t want to be a guru, I just want to make informed decisions and be able to talk the talk to know I’m not being bull-shitted. Thus far it has taught me much. The stock trading seminar seems to be a good start for a novice.
I went to the one day free seminar in Toronto Canada. Like everyone else here I got sucked in and I used my rent money to get in on the ground floor. I was so excited and decided that I was taking a chance and risk on my future finances. Well They gave me a bag with videos Audio and books to read as a bonus for signing up. Then when I got home and I was talking with my wife about it I started to have second thoughts. I promptly bounced that check and then I got a call telling me the check bounced. I acted surprised. And then they asked if I still wanted to go to the 3 days seminar. I said well I don't have any money right now then the lady said they would send me a return Fedex package and I was to return all of the books and stuff. My wife said that they made me pay $500 for the books and were probably going to try and sell me more at the 3 day work shop. Now that I am reading all of these comments online. I am glad I got wise before it was too late!
Why don’t you give your rent to me. What kind of idiot uses his rent on an impulse buy?
An impulsive one! LOL
I went to the one day free seminar in Toronto Canada. Like everyone else here I got sucked in and I used my rent money to get in on the ground floor. I was so excited and decided that I was taking a chance and risk on my future finances. Well They gave me a bag with videos Audio and books to read as a bonus for signing up. Then when I got home and I was talking with my wife about it I started to have second thoughts. I promptly bounced that check and then I got a call telling me the check bounced. I acted surprised. And then they asked if I still wanted to go to the 3 days seminar. I said well I don’t have any money right now then the lady said they would send me a return Fedex package and I was to return all of the books and stuff. My wife said that they made me pay $500 for the books and were probably going to try and sell me more at the 3 day work shop. Now that I am reading all of these comments online. I am glad I got wise before it was too late!
Today I finished my 3 day seminar on Launch Your Business. I knew going in there would be the promotion of more education. I found the three days to be very beneficial and loaded with a great deal of information about business building and, yes, real estate investment ideas! No, i did not sign up for more education. Yes, they promoted furthering your financial education strongly but no undo pressure at the end when I said “no thank you”!
I found the presenter to be personable, capable and genuinely interested in the betterment of all those attending the class–she even recommended to a few in the class that they needed to work on some areas of their life and finances and not consider taking any classes at this time.
I recommend you do your due diligence about your own motives and expectations of this seminar “before” attending. Don't blame them if you thought you were going to become a business success with only a three day $495 investment–won't happen for you and hasn't happened for anyone else! Success in all areas of life demands much more from us!
They didn’t stress success through the seminar, it was through the advanced classes. That’s the area of concern I’m trying to look into before I commit to anything. That’s where the cost runs into the 4 and 5 figures. I am too well advanced in age to give up that much money without a definite guarantee. I thank you for posting your experience as many are in need of real solid admonishment.
Yes, I went to the free seminar Rich Dad Stock Success System, I came across this site and also
http://www.ripoffreport.com/Seminar-Programs/Wealth-Intelligence/wealth-intelligence-academy-d5bf5.htm
after paying the $495, I called my CC company MasterCard they said I have to wait for the charge to be posted on the account before I can dispute it.
1. Question, disputing the $495 with your CC company did this also include the
currently billing of $39.95 for the software? Or you have to wait for the changes for the month
billing of $39.95 and then call up your CC company again and deal with this a second time?
2. How did yall find out the fax#?
Next Texas city coming up after San Antonio is Austin I heard the guy say in class today not
sure if that is true.
I had attended the free seminar since I am huge fan of RK. Got into their sales pitch and signed up for 3 day seminar. Started researching and talking to couple of friends, found out that it is pretty much a scam. I could read the material and learn instead of taking up the class. The next day i called them up. after few rounds, i faxed the cancellation form. They kept saying someone would call me to get the material back and work for canceling the class. No one called, no emails send. Thanks to Amex, I disputed and got my money back. I still have the material. Dont know what would happen since it has been more than 25 days of my cancellation. One thing I learned from this is. RK is good inspiration for “Why to” but very poor at “How to” and I think he keeps stressing the point that his audios are for Why to and he does not teach How to. So my suggestion just stick with his RDPD books but do not get into these programs of How to. You are smart enough to find out How to.
Hope this helps.
Hi Parker, I attended Aug24-26, 2012 3 days seminar and did not enroll due to finance. Did you get refund? What are you doing withe the software they provided. Is it transferrable? respond to bsharma945@yahoo.com. Thx. Bala.
I did receive a full refund. The full amount of the charge, all of it was removed from my American Express Credit Card by the Rich Dad Company without me having to dispute it with Amex. Alls well ends well. For future reference I do not recommend anyone having anything to do with this rich dad company.
Consider yourselves warned
Yep they got me too, but praise God I woke up fast…We all need to discipline our greed.
Attended the free seminar in Houston, TX on Aug 4, 2009 got suckered into purchasing the 3-day training class. The next day Aug. 5, 2009 I began cancelling the three day training course. Sent in the cancellation notice by certified mail, called RD two days later and they pitched me the “You need to fax us the student contract” I knew that was the beginning of the run-arounds.
Good thing I put it on my AmEx Credit Card, so many people were paying with cash. I’ve talked wtih AmEx twice already and they told me they are not releasing any funds to that company and a billing inquiry will take place in three days. Tort laws are in place to protect citizens from thigs like this. Dave Ramsey is still my all time favorite he would never run schemes like this.
When in doubt..DOUBT!!! or at least us a credit card that can, and will be disputed in your favor.
I attended both the “free” 2 hour seminar as well as the discounted $495 seminar. I am a licensed Realtor, who has been licensed for 10 years. I’ve either worked in general real estate or for a builder for all but 1 of those 10 years. While I’m not a big fan of the “up sell”, I knew it was coming, and gleaned what I could from what was presented. I can honestly say that I learned a tremendous amount in the $495 seminar – and the information was definitely NOT vague. Specific examples, actions, regulations, strategies, scripts were used throughout the 3 days.
For anyone who says it was vague, it sounds to me like it may have been a difference in instructors? My instructor’s name was Damien, who seemed to be very experienced, knowledgeable, and “real”. Perhaps I was simply duped, but I don’t think so. When I went to him with a couple of questions on break, he had real practical answers to my questions (didn’t seem like he put me off or was vague in any way). I not only learned some very valuable information for me personally, I’ve already helped 2 of my clients and 1 friend (going through a foreclosure) with a couple of minor things – which I would have not known about if not attending.
I was (and continue to be) interested in continuing education to make my dream a reality. Let me further say, I have always wanted to invest in real estate for a living – since getting my license 10 years ago, actually. I have simply never taken the time, actions, and commitment to make it happen – because it just seemed like a dream. For me, I think the advanced trainings could be the kick in the pants some people need to make their dream a reality. However, if it isn’t your dream – or someone has made you think it “might” be a good dream – you probably will fail miserably because you won’t have the commitment in place to make it happen. It isn’t get rich quick and it isn’t for someone who isn’t genuinely interested in real estate. It’s something you have to be passionate about!
All that being said, I signed up for the advanced training. 4 courses, a mentor, charged to credit cards for around $26,000. Sounds nuts, right? 🙂 Yeah, to me too. Even though I am extremely pumped and motivated to make my dream a reality, I felt I needed to step back and reevaluate my next actions/spending to make the best decision for me right now.
So I read all these posts thinking that it would be a living NIGHTMARE to cancel. SO FAR, I AM WRONG.
Now, everything has not been processed yet, but I at least have information for you Floridians who took the course. The phone number on my Notice of Cancellation was correct: 800-570-2020. I spoke w/ James at extension 3537 who gave me the proper fax number to send the notice of cancellation to. The fax number is 801-269-5178 – he said to fax it to Attn: Student Resolution. He said it would take up to 10 days to process the refund. Once they receive my cancellation, they will email me the mailing label to use. When I asked, he said the information for which products should be returned would be included – however, he didn’t sound confident of that, so we’ll have to wait and see. He confirmed my email address without me asking him. I will make sure I set my fax machine to print a confirmation page – and suggest anyone else do the same just in case.
The bottom line is that while I am cancelling the advanced education right now, there’s a chance I may sign up later. Or not. The point is that I came away from the 3-day training totally motivated to make this work, and I’ll do my own research to find the best educational resources for me personally. I saw another poster say that he took 12-15 pages of notes – I did the same. I’ve gone back to review them and still feel there was tremendous value (certainly the $495 that I paid) in what was taught.
Like most everything else, the training is not black or white, good or bad. It’s some combination and you must decide for yourself if it is a value to YOU. A value to me may not be a value to you. BY ALL MEANS, don’t let negative comments on this program or any another allow you to give up on your dream, if that’s what you want to do. Don’t let it scare you or stop you in your tracks and do nothing! FIND what’s best for you and you’ll be the winner every time! (…sorry for the rambling…I know many have had bad experiences and I understand that…I would just hate to see someone’s dreams dashed simply because of individual opinions and/or negativity…)
For 26,000$ you could already be in real estate with equity, seems to me.
(as of 2012) for $26k you CAN purchase yourself a little rehab (not including the $$ for fixes) or use it as down payment for a residential home but then you’ll be stuck with making the monthly mortgage payments that can range anywhere from $1K to $4K depending on what area and purpose the house is for.
Now let’s say you’re going to rent it out to cover the mortgage. Ok that is an option but what about all the costs the owner is responsible for during/once the tenants move out i.e. costs not covered by the deposit – yearly property taxes, marketing to find new tenants, realtor’s fees if you chose to use one, carpet cleaning, pest control, painted walls, etc. You need to calculate those costs into your monthly as well. Usually that cost will be well over the monthly rent.
Another thing you need to take into consideration is what if you can’t find a tenant once the first one moves out. Your mortgage is probably 30 years. Maybe 15. And most tenants will stay 2-3 years average. If you’re lucky you’ll get a family with small children in a good school district. Then maybe you’ll keep them for longer. But if you can’t fill a vacancy, then you’re out paying the monthly yourself.
I’m not advocating the ridiculous price tag Rich dad has set on their advanced trainings BUT I am saying that I went to the 3-day training ($199) and was blown away at how much information they provided. I went home and divulged all the details to my realtor friends who not only confirmed the validity of those techniques, but also was impressed by some others they were never taught of (some have been in the business for over 15 years).
Personally I have always been interested in RE but didn’t want to be an agent. I knew there are other aspects of RE that can prove to be valuable retirement channels. Even just going to the 3-day sem provided me with a ton of ideas. Do your due diligence, there’s a ton of REIAs out there that will point you in the right direction.
If I had the money I would have taken those classes bc I believe they have a good system in place… but at this moment… even $7K is not an option.
Anyways hopefully that was helpful.
Hi Kim!
Your comment was inspiring as I have attended one of the seminars myself. I don’t know when your comment was posted but I am answering your post as of Aug 20, 2012. Over this past weekend I attended the latest seminar for 3 days straight. It was the second one (and I won’t waste time saying why, misunderstanding, possibly) and I was equally impressed with it. Every individual or group who puts on seminars for whatever reason are always “offended?” by criticisms of the claims they would make in their events. So I try to stay open minded about these. If you’ve attended any of their advanced training, could you tell me if what they had to give was truly helpful/worthwhile and profitable? They said anyone who had the will could do it and make it happen for themselves. I know you said you were in real estate already 10 years running. So in your honest and professional opinion, could a person right off the street with no real estate knowledge at all profit from these training classes or would they be wasting their time? It really is important to me as I am atttempting to get a loan to attend these classes. I really need to make a serious change in my life. I don’t have any professional experience in anything and I believe this would be a great opportunity to get that and possibly help the members in my family who need it badly. Any information you could offer would be appreciated. Thank you!!!!
We’ll put kim
I am writing this while day 3 of the stock trading seminar I paid for is going on. I found the first two days one huge sales pitch for the advance training with a small sprinkle of stock trading ideas mixed in. The package they “recommend” is too the tune of $30,000. Amazingly I would guess close to 80+% of the folks in the class appeared to be all in. If nothing else these people are great salesmen!!!
I am not disappointed about my $500 though. I like the Edutrader software…for now until I figure fundemental stock analysis out on my own. I also picked up some basic options trading ideas that I was unaware of. However, a little research shows that this strategies can be learned from the internet for FREE. Thats what I am going to do.
Beware if you are planning to attend one of these 3-day seminars, you learn just enough to be dangerous and your credit cards are at risk to some very good salesmen!!!!
I am considering purchasing the edutrader services. I found out about EduTrader at one of Robert Kiosayki’s investing seminars. This article kind of helps me be a little more critical towards the software.
Well I just read the bad reviews listed… WOW… I must say I’m not too ” happy ” about just purchasing our $ 495.00 package deal from RK’s free seminar on April 7, 2009. My husband and I are scheduled to attend the 3 day class on May 1,2 & 3. I want to have an open mind about this investment and apply what we learn.I have followed RK’s teaming up with Donald Trump.
I just went to a Donald Trump ” free ” seminar last night… The sign up fee for 3 day seminar was ( $ 1495.00 ).
Basely the same things were talked about last night in this meeting… So I have to give this seminar a try…
Thank you for letting us know about the credit card scam. We are not taking the cards… Ha!
Oh, my husband has been listening to RK cd’s and he’s excited about the knowledge so far.
We will send updated info after the class.
Hey are u going to the Stock and trading seminar I am attending that one to
Hi! I really needed to answer this comment just b/c it’s 3 years old. I wanted to know how you and your husband faired out in this seminar. I had recently attended the introductory seminar and it was the second time. I think I may have misunderstood what was being said the second time around, thinking it was one of their actual classes. Well, I was a little disappointed but I did hear more or maybe the info which was spoken the first time around. In any case, I wanted to know if you and your husband actually enrolled in any of their advanced training. If so, have either of you sold any properties and made a worthwhile sum of money? I really would like to know as I am on the verge of trying to get a loan to invest in this venture. I need something to happen for me really soon as things for my wife and I are getting tougher for reasons I can’t explain at this time. Any info on this group would either help me get ahead and get over or possibly help me avoid making a grave mistake. Thank you for any information you could give!!!
Just completed day 2 of the 3 day seminar. I agree with the comments above… this event was one big sales pitch and very misleading. A complete waste of time.
I am more upset about the 20+ hours I have wasted over the past 2 days then the $500 I spent on the course. Trying to debate whether or not I sit through the third day in hopes of picking up a few more ideas.
I would have some respect for them if they just spent 1-day giving us the important information and explaining the courses with pricing VERSUS making us sit there for 3-days and wasting our time on a sales pitch that was literally making me shake in my chair with frustration over the time I was wasting and sleaziness of the whole thing. They could have definitely given us the 3-day course in 1-day.
The funny thing… if they were open about their intentions and did not waste days of my life, I would probably have purchased some of the $5K classes. I see the value in investing in education. I can say that I will DEFINITELY NOT buy any of the advanced training b/c of their approach to this whole thing.
Ok first off, Robert Kiyosaki in no way dismisses education and calls it stupid. He has a college degree, and he knows the importance of education. He does, however, feel that schools now a days need to have a financial literacy class. Judging by today’s economy, it would be wise for teens to learn how to manage their money correctly. Now will Kiyosaki’s methods work for everyone? NO! That’s why Robert encourages everyone to educate themselves with every bit of various information they can find. I attended a free seminar and liked what the speaker presented, but I knew that he was going to be sellings those $420 classes and I also knew that I wasn’t going to purchase those classes so I avoided it, it’s called being smart and aware of your weekly schedule. I have college classes at 8 in the morning. I’ll find what the classes are going to teach in the library. If I’m going to pay for classes, I’m going to make sure that Robert Kiyosaki is there teaching so I could ask him a lot of unanswered questions after the seminar. I mean it is my money that i’m giving to the guy after all.
So in conclusion, there is nothing wrong with learning how to invest from Robert Kiyosaki, Warren Buffet, Wall Street Journal and other bits and pieces of information you can find. Just take from it, analyze it, if you feel good about it, try it, and after a little while, come up with your own methods and reasons, if you don’t feel good about the information you read, seek other things. Oh and Robert Kiyosaki does not like “get rich quick” schemes. It says so in back of “Rich Dad’s Guide To Investing” and his seminars do not preach how to get rich quick.
I am not on the dole for Robert Kiyosaki and I am not ignorant! We didn’t sign up for the advanced courses and didn’t feel pressured to do so! I learned a lot from the 3 day seminar that I am going to be using. Seems we have issues today in this society with succcessful people from unsuccessful people! To me one lacks understanding (but are not ignorant) to believe that a $495, 3 day workshop is going to be all you need to be successful in real estate. I don’t believe anybody is ignorant that attends one of these seminars or moves forward to the advanced level but are people looking for what will work for them and a better way to invest and earn income. I actually ended up signing up for coaching with another company because of price and I am very happy with the coaching so far but I cannot cut down the Kiyosaki coaching when I haven’t tried it! You get what you expect from these things. If you expect to be scammed you will miss a lot of good information! If you expect to leave with more knowledge than you came with and with a few new acquaintances, then you will leave with more than you came with!
Anyone who has something ‘good’ to say about these Rich Dad seminars is obiviously ignorant about economics entirely or is on the dole from these slick operators! These $495 seminar are nothing more than a high pressured commercial for the advanced and more expensive courses! These guys are nothig more than ‘no-account’ motivational speakers with little substance to show. In other words: a bunch of thieving bastards!
Completed the final day of the weekend training and had a great time! Picked up some more great nuggets and played the Cash Flow game with some other great people at our table! Yes there is the pitching going on but this is a business and I expect that in business! Businesses do not make money if they are not selling! However, I do believe the education you get with this program would be worth the money! I don’t have anything negative to say about this weekend. I got more than my money’s worth ($495).
I know a couple of the people who did buy the advanced packages so I will be able to followup with them and see how things go! I am excited for those who were able to move forward and wish them much success! The low point for me was walking away without being able to move forward today! I take away from this experience a much higher Financial IQ, learned some things that will help me and my husband as we continue to build our business. I know there is so much more I need to know and can’t wait to get that education!
Hi
Were you able to get in touch with those who did the advance training? Did it help? Were they successful? or was it a waste of money?
I just finished Day 2 of the $495 seminar (my husband attended with me). It is definitely worth the money as it included CD’s books, etc. and the 3 day seminar for 2. I definitely think it would be worth it to move forward to the advanced training but at this time my husband and I just cannot commit. However, we do plan to followup!
Before we attended the seminar I had read the books and listened to some of the CD’s and had already started putting into practice our surplus budget and working with our financial statement correctly. I definitely increased my financial IQ just from reading the materials and listening to the DVD’s and CD’s which came with the $495 and that was before even attending the seminar. I was amazed at how much more we could do with our budget and how I found more money to work with just by following a few suggestions in his books and I thought we actually were pretty good with our budget but WOW I was shocked that I wasn’t utlizing what we kept or that we could keep more just by making a few changes.
I am a lot more creative about how to utliize our income! For my family it was money well spent and I am grateful for the opportunity to have had this experience and being reintroduced to RK’s books, etc. (I had read Rich Dad Poor Dad about 7 years ago but my radar wasn’t up so I missed some very important information). I am excited about going back tomorrow and playing the Cash Flow game and enjoying the great people who are also attending the seminar. It has motivated me to take action on some other things I have procrastinated about for far too long and I am very excited about getting that kick in the rear to be proactive on these goals. That kick alone was worth the money!
I think you get out of things what you expect. I knew for $500 I would not walk away from 3 days knowing how to do real estate! I got what I expected and I was in tune to that so I picked up a lot of nuggets to utlize! For me I got far more than my money’s worth! No regrets here!
I purchased the Wealth Intelligence Academy Real Estate Success Software software a few weeks ago and it seems to work fine so far. I’m don’t beleive it’s the same software complained about above. This one helps do valuations , comps, find foreclosures , pre-foreclosures and also has legal documents you can use for deals. (and nice google map features)
My concern is the lack of online forums, blogs, equimine support page, etc.
I’ve had all kinds of trouble trying to get onto the richdad discussion boards or the very similar WIA forums. I understand why they need to keep the negative chatter, especially from competitors , but I just want to discuss and compare notes with other users of this software. The manual is a good start, but as a long time IT person, I need my online resources and to be able to interact with them.
Well, I attended the 3 day $500 seminar and all you get is a 3 day overview of the “Advnaced Training” You get samples from real deals worked by the presenter. Day one you are asked to go home and increase your credit lines so you can improve your acces of “other peoples money” . You ae lead to believe you can use this money to do your first deal. Then you are sold on why you need more training the – Advanced Training so you actually are expected to invest in yourself with your new credit lines so you can equip yourself to make more money and your first deal could pay for the training. WELL the training is $117K but you will get the special onsite proce of 67K includes software, 3 day in home mentor and a 3 day seminar on EACH real estate technique – 13 different courses are offered. Now the education is valuable BUT not at that price. People went to the back of the room and fanned out credit cards to cover the cost. I however bought nothing additional.
Sommer,
Thanks for the info. In the end I declined the invitation after reading these posts and others.
– Wondering
It’s not a free ticket, it’s jut when you pay the $500 you can bring someone at no extra cost. They make it sound like you can bring your “spouse” for free, when really two people can go for the $500.00
Question, I’ve been offered a free ticket to attend a 3-day RDPD seminar. Somehow my acquaintance has this extra ticket that otherwise would go to waste. If people are paying $500 to attend, how is it that he has a free $500 ticket? I’ve read the posts above and am not comfortable attending.
Just finished my 3-day seminar. Didn’t get conned into any advanced training courses. I had never been to any seminar, so when the opportunity became available, for $500, to learn about real estate investing, tax shelters, creative financing, etc… I decided to give it a try. After the first hour or two of class, I quickly saw that this was a scam and a sales pitch. I was disappointed, but figured I may learn some good information and I already paid, so I might as well stick it out and complete the 3 days. If anything, they are good motivational speakers. I am ready to invest, whether they taught me anything or not. But I really learned minimal quality information pertaining to investing. If you go to this 3 day seminar, just be aware of what you are getting-some motivation and very minimal investment info.
this was my experience from back in july in tampa at a RK rich dad intro seminar….
2nd time i’ve been to one – the first time i had to leave before it was over.
I decided to sign up during the event – the guy was very good manipulator/ psychology to
get people to join. I decided that it wasn’t right for me and i read the cancellation sheet very carefully
after reading discussion boards such as this where people had horrible experiences with trying to get a
refund.
Well, it didn’t say i had to fax anything – just sent the notice back certified within the 3 day grace period.
I got an email confirmation for a ups label – but i almost deleted it because it didn’t really indicate who or where it was from – but I was expecting something so I realized that’s what it was. the label was for the cape coral address.
I wrote back to make sure I included EVERYTHING i was supposed to return (minus the ‘fre-e gifts) and there was a discrepancy with what I got and what they claimed i had.
I emailed back and they replied that yes, what i had was correct as they had recently changed what was included in the purple bag.
I did go thru some closed loop calling:
called 800-978-8068 and talked to an Ashley – she said i was calling Utah and needed to call florida #
which was 239-540-6500 ext 1 (whitney education group)
called that and got directory HQ which told me to call the utah number again.
i called the 239 540 -6500 number again and listened to the menu – got another number to call
888-831-6866 for a label…
called again
239-540-6500 – ext 1 … said you guys are telling me to call each other – passing the buck..
so the person put me in touch with a ‘Lisa’ who emailed me exactly what I needed to return.
I can understand the frustration people have had with trying to get their money back…
my concern was to make sure we were on the same page as far as what they expected to receive back so they couldn’t deny my return.
The long and short of it – i got USPS confirmation of their receiving my cancellation request. Got the email prepaid UPS label emailed to me…. And they refunded my c/c within a few days – I actually had the refund before I had a chance to send the products back….
It’s disappointing to learn that RK may be nothing more than a charlatan who has 1000s of people getting duped. But as far as hassles with getting my money back, I can’t complain.
Hi everyone.
I just got back from free seminar runned in London. What can I say?? Rather than 990$ for seminar and – wow – bargain offer – 495$, we have the same but valued: 1990 GBP and – wow! bargain! – 590 GBP
Basically, person who made this seminar was investor “Matthew Watson”, however I couldn’t find any informations about such person in internet – strange, bearing in mind his words: just type my name in google and you’ll have many results. More or less – the same story: introduction to Robert’s books, assest, liabilities, family photo of pregnant wife…
At hte end – wow! bargain! only TODAY!! – rather than 1990 GBP, you can have it for only 590 GBP!! Putting all my trust in richdad brand, I was really considering paying for this 3 day seminar. I was really surprised how many people did that actually! But!! But but but!! What is rich dad golden rule?? Investing is not risky – lack of knowledge is risky! Isn’t that ironic?!
So I went back home without burned bridges – as I knew that this seminar will happen in next 2 days – and used google magic. Guess what! I’ve found this page! And I really want to thank you all! I saved 600 GBP!
I must say I feel quite good after all this situation. While this “investor” was keep on repeating that he never puts his money into investment he doesn’t know much about, seems like this hint has been ignored by the rest of the group. Simply – they took out thier credit cards and created positive cashflow to… God knows who! If this is the way you do your homework and learn your lessons – wow, I’m happy to see that in such crowded market, only very few people use their brains.
Probably if I’m told that Robert Kiyosaki will participate on this seminar – I guess I would pay. But it won’t happen, and “richdad” logo and smiling Robert’s photos is not enough! Not for 600 GBP.
It was good experience anyway. There is always need of having employees – you can run the best system ever, but still you need to have army of employees that will put 1 potato and 2 pickles on the top of hamburger. And I know, that there is still many of them around us.
PS. I am thinking of going there and warn future victims. I do not mind having a good idea that brings you money, as long as it is not cheating regular people.
It was my first get rich seminar. And trust me you can see the sales pitches a mile away. My wife is a real estate broker, and I just wanted to learn how to get into short sales and how to structure a land trust. In the free seminar they tell you they are going to teach you all of that for the low price of $1000 but for that day only you can get it for the low price of $500 and you get some free cd’s with it.
It’s all a sales pitch. When you go to the first free meeting, How come they never tell you for $500 all you are going to get is a sales pitch for more seminars? I’m financially literate and I was semi retired at the age of 26 I know a scam when I see one. It’s an elaborate pitch and a play on emotion is all it is. If you want to learn how to buy real estate you can join a local real estate investment club for $200, and have actually investors show you how to buy. You can get all the seminars there for free from people who are in the business.
For the people who defend this type of misleading, I don’t know what you get for $9000 but I know for $500 I got a bunch lies and I didn’t learn anything, but a few Walt Disney quotes and Robert K quotes out of his books, and I got to see some pictures from the instructor oh his wife and kids on the slide show,which is part of the emotional play they put on. And the whole 3 days, they stress that 3 days is not enough time to learn. It’s a complete waist of time. Then they pressure people who are in soooo much debt already to take out more debt on their credit cards.
I warn you before you spend your money, do some research on what you get. Do not take the word of the person who is taking your money. their job is to show you how great they and their products are.
I am attending the 3 day sales pitch as we speak. If they want the money for the advanced courses you’d think they would teach you to make that amount of money rather than increase your bad debt.
You are free to ask questions but I can’t get a straight answer out of any of them.
Davep,thank you for the positive input. I attended the 3-day seminar in Nov ’07 and purchased the $9k advanced training pkg. I learned quite a bit from the seminars and the on-demand (pre-recorded), as well as live webinar training courses. Since the training, I have purchased a SF house with more than 50% equity. The training also enlightened me in how to obtain funding for my first commercial investment. If a person does not apply the principles taught, he should expect to fail.
Congrats Flyhigh. Awesome : )
My husband andi are actually doing the 3 day weekend course right now which we paid roughly $500.00.
We are torn on whether or not to take the advance training. We are both very motivated, but with all this negetivity, its mind boggling.
Most of the people here complaining NEVER even took the advance training.
So i ask you Flyhigh, was the advance training fee worth it?
We want to do it, but dont see much people saying its a success.
Can you provide some insight??
We would greatly appreciate it.
Tomorrow is the last day and we must decide then….
They do tell you a couple of good vague things about real estate. They are not there to teach you anything during the seminar, they are just there to get you to buy more seminars from them for $9k to $40k. You can learn everything they teach you and more for free at a local real estate investment club. Bottom line they talk more about quotes from RK and Walt Disney then they do talking about real estate.
I didn’t go there expecting to be rich instantly or anything. I just thought they were going to teach me something I did not know not just some vague things. The instructor just spent 3 days telling us 3 days was not enough to learn about real estate. It’s just a waist of time if you ask me.
Bottom line which they don’t tell you at first (they wait until end of day two to tell you)is This $500 seminar is just more of a sales presentation to buy more seminars then it is to actually teach you any specific thing about real estate during this 3 day seminar.
Hello everyone! I just attended the 3 day $495 class in MPLS. Here’s my experience and 2 cents… Our Instructor was very knowledgable, personable and did a very good job. My background is that I am a small time RE Investor with 4 single family rentals and RTO’s right now. I went to this seminar to learn about a couple more options in RE Investing (ex. Prop Mgmt, Notes, Forclosures, Multi Family, etc.). I will say this, I feel that I definitely got my $495 worth out of the class, especially considering my wife went as well so it was really $250 per (Cheap education!). The class covered a ton which was great but the downfall of that is they aren’t able to spend a lot of time on just one or two subjects. I did not choose to continue with the adv. training sessions ($9K-$40K) at this time but I definitely will be researching and learning more on my own things that I took from this seminar. I plan to concentrate on just 1 or 2 things right now and do some smaller quick turns to make $$ and at a later time I may still sign up for some adv. training.
A couple of things I learned and thought were quite valuable are… How to find a good RE opportunity, Minumum RIO I should be looking for in certain ventures, How to factor my rents on Lease or Lease Options (thought I knew), Asset Protection (I have an LLC that was drafted by my RE Attorney and I got some great ideas how to protect myself even further) and much more! I think I had taken about 12-15 pages of valuable notes.
As for most of the other posts on here my thoughts are that those people that didn’t get much out of it are those who thought they were going to learn how to make $100K on their 1st RE deal without much effort after attending the 3 day seminar (I would also imaging they have sunk a lot of money into many other “Get Rich Quick” ideas). I would really be interested in hearing from someone that actually attended the adv. trainings and used a Mentor. What was your experience? Are you implemting what you’ve learned? As for the rest of you I think it would behoove you to actually invest some time and learn more and “Do” a deal instead of just whining that you didn’t walk out with the easy button to wealth!
Good luck!!!
Dave P you absolutely hit it right on. We are in a world of instant gratification and every one wants to make Not just money but anything they try to have Quick lightning results. I attended the 3 day seminar in Ny in January 2014 a few months ago, I hooked up with someone else that was at the training, we decide to do the wholesale and got the software with it. It’s amazing very detailed and simple to follow. After many calls we are close to closing a deal. How can any one here take advise from some other person that isn’t successful in this field? Look at these people complaining here with out going thru with it. Those that are taking advise should Meet up with them in person and see if they have the Mindset the security the lifestyle and Financial Freedom that you want, if they do, ask them how they did it and See if they are willing to train you. Take Control of Your Life people. Don’t Expect Anyone else to do it for you. You want a change? Start with changing You, Work On You, Believe in You. And Eventually You will Thank You. There’s a (Switch) or (button) for everything. Put the light on (Switch). Put the TV on (Remote). Computer (Button) Warmup Coffee (microwave) Even Cashiers clerk don’t use their mind to give you change, the cash register tells them how much change to give back to you. Stop pointing fingers and blaming everyone else. That’s called Poverty Consciousness. Stop Limiting yourselves. It does take work and in the long run you will have built a legacy for you and your family. If it’s too much work, then Stay at work. Most of us Die at the age of 25 anyway and torture themselves Until retirement : ) The American Program Dream. : ) Take care Dave P
Hi Dave. I totally agree with you. I attended a 3 day seminar last year and loved it. I’ve learned a lot. I ended up buying the software, but got busy with my business and never got a chance to use it. I don’t think doing real estate deals is my thing. I like running my business better. I do want to invest in real estate in the future, but it’s not my priority. I wanted to sell my software, would you like to buy it? I still have the activation code. Please let me know! Thank you
Nathan,
Save your money. The whole company is a waist of time. The only thing they are good for is motivational speaking. They will for sure tell you that 3 days is not long enough to learn about trading so they will try to sell you on more expensive courses and software. The most you will probably learn is “buy low sell high”. They tell you some vague things. Look on your invoice and you will see on there where they write that during your seminar that you will be offered more training and more products.
Here is how the company works. They bring you in with a free two or three hour seminar/talk. Then they get a good salesmen to show you why he is into investing and show you pictures of their family and how that is their reason and motivation for making money. They will offer you a once in a life time deal for a 3 day seminar that costs normally $890 but for that day they will give you a promotional price of $495 and they will throw in free Robert CD’s.
You get to the 3 day seminar there is another sales men teaching it. Shows you pictures of his family and tells you how successful he is and his motivation is his family. And that he only teaches because his passion is teaching. He will also throw in that he can’t teach you everything he knows in 3 days. He will get into what ever the subject is then he will shift into quotes from Robert and maybe Walt Disney. Robert quotes are something like I am rich because I choose to be rich and how education is priceless. And how it is important. But during the class they ask who has a college degree, half the people would raise their hand, then the instructor would ask “And where has that gotten you”. They put down college and tell you that you need to buy their education.
This is an elaborate sales presentation, it is by far one of the best sales presentations I have seen. Almost as good as AMWAY. Which I hear Robert was in.
Save your self $500 and 3 days of you life and don’t go. If you want to learn, learn from someone who has gone to school for options training and who is certified and actualy made his money options trading. Don’t try to learn from someone who made his money selling books about making money.
I just went to one in Lancaster, PA and signed up for the $495 options trading seminar. Most of these posts are for the real estate course, any other people tried the options trading course? Given the negs of the real estate version, I will definetly tone down my expectations.thanks for all the posts.
I attended the free seminar and was really inspired to take the three day training but decided to think it over instead of buying on the spot. Thanks to you guys, I will save my $500 and 3 days out of my life! I have attended other similar seminars: Landmark forum, Millionaire Mind and Mlms and I hated getting pitched for the more expensive seminars so its good to know that that is what rich dad academy is all about as well before I made the mistake to go. I am devastatingly dissapointed in Robert, however, since I have had such respect and trust in his ideas for years, since reading his books. I guess the guy has to make his money but deceiving and manupulating people in the process really has proven him to be a sell out. Its too bad. I would still reccomend anyone to read RDPD and Cashflow Q though but will certainly never attend a seminar.
I just did RK’s 3 day seminar in Houston for $500. I went to the free seminar and they said that you can take the 3 Day seminar and learn about different RE strategies (short sale, wholesale, How to buy with no money down,etc). I thought, what the heck $500 is not much if I was going to actually learn something. In 3 days all they told us was how great Real estate can be and how we can make a big change in our lives and the lives of those we love. And how great that would be. 3 days of praying on our emotions not teaching us anything.
First day we were told to call our credit card companies and get high limits so we can have money to buy real estate later. Turns out they want you to use that money to “invest” in their “education” for $9000 to $43000. All we did for 3 days was “Robertisms” Robert says this and that. Robert says you need to invest in your education. Robert say you get paid for what you know and lose money for what you don’t know. And we got alot of Walt Disney quotes too. The last thing we did was learn very little and vague things about Real Estate. In fact for 3 days all they told us from 9am to 7pm in between quotes from Robert and Walt Disney was that 3 days was not enough to learn about real estate so we need to invest more money in seminars.
It turned out to be more like a 3 day Tony Robins seminar of “HOW TO BE A BETTER YOU” then anything to do with learning about Real Estate. I paid $500 to sit in on a sales pitch for their advanced seminars. There is a sucker born every second in this world. I sat in the same seminar as 60 other people and guess what we had about 5 to 10 people who still paid somewhere of at least $20,000 for 3 more seminars of 3 days each. Our instructor talked about how much property and money he had and how he didn’t need to be teaching these seminars,
but that his passion was teaching and this is his way of giving back to society by helping people reach their dream.
These seminars are more of Robert and his crew helping others help him get richer.
I signed up and sadly for me the 72 hour window for cancellation has passed, I shall be going for the 3 day seminar but I shall be leaving my credit cards at home since I have made the firm decision not to take any long term courses with them. What I shall do instead is buy as many books on options and trading, read them, try and learn; do some mock trades for a few months before I get my feet wet.
Oh also is there anyone out there who has used the edutrader software? Is it any good? I have searched all over online for reviews but cant find anything. Thanks!
Like comment #15, I was really miffed (very toned down wording) about being told to increase your credit card limit the first day to get your CAPITAL in line for the real estate deal that will Spring Up! If you have 2 cards – get them both up. “Tell your credit card company you want an increase to $25,$30,$40 or $50K”. Low and behold, then you’re hit with the prices for the training courses on the second day, payable by, you guessed it, your CREDIT CARD! Or you can take it out of your savings, 401K, family, friends, etc. By the way, the price for the course was only good for the weekend you attended the 3 day introductory training. Classes cost between $9K and $43K. I’m not to sure people have these sums of money just laying around. There is no offering “XX” cents on the dollar RDPD is willing to take on the training, especially when they claim that everything is negotiable in life, and that retail is for suckers.
Another point, when we went to the first day of class, we went to the wrong building. Ok, my mistake. This was a Friday morning. I called the RDPD 800 number, and the recording came on the phone from the customer service department stating that they were all in a staff meeting and wouldn’t be available until 11am. You couldn’t get to anyone for help. As you can see, I didn’t capitalize customer service in this case because the episode I experienced with RDPD is not, in my view, what real CUSTOMER SERVICE is all about. By the way, my confirmation letter stating the location came to my mailbox the first day of the seminar.
My husband and I just returned from attending 2 of the 3 day $495 seminar in Bellevue, WA. Having attended other such seminars I was prepared to have to sit through their commercials and come-ons for the next higher-priced seminars. What I wasn’t prepared for was Dina using her father’s death and the subsequent events to prey on the attendee’s emotions in order to get them to sign up for the $9000 to $45,000 seminars. After tearfully sharing how her father died suddenly when she was but a young girl, she told how some angels in the form of real estate investors knocked on their door and saved their mother from certain financial ruin by buying the house from her. She knew right then, according to her tearful story, that she wanted to be a real estate investor just like them when she grew up. (At this point I was incredulous that anyone could believe this crap, but a look around showed me at least one woman with tears in her eyes. Serious.) Next she told the story of how, on her first date with the man who is now her husband, she knew she was going to marry him because he said he wanted to become a real estate investory. Gagging yet? It was all I could do to not run screaming out of the room.
Until this point, I had respect for Robert Kiyosaki. But if he’s aligned himself with slime like these people, I’m rethinking everything about him.
Oh, by the way. Rich Dad Education, which is actually WIA, is offering a program in Costa Rica and it just happens to be located within a new development. Suckers, I mean class participants, will have the opportunity to purchase the lots. But first they have to pay $15,500 to go down there for 2 days of brainwashing. I mean classes.
I’m glad to have stumbled across these commentaries. I have attended the free seminar and was not all that impressed. What impressed me was the 2 for one 3 day seminar for investing in the “choose to be rich” collection. Although I can not give my opinion on the 3 day training because I was not able to make it, I do feel that the material provided has been more than helpful and worth the investment.
What encouraged me to send a message was I wanted to let it be known that the Whitney Information Network, INC. is under investigation for misconduct and misrepresentation amoung other things. In the statements Russ Whitney will be and/or already has resigned from Chief Executive Officer of the Company and will be assuming a non-executive role as serve as an advisor. There has been a host of others that has resigned and/or has stepped down as well in compliance with “United States Securities and Exchange Commission”.
So the way that company operates will be changed around per the documents I have read.
If you would like to read it all for youself then you can go to their website http://www.wincorporate.com and click on “Investor Relations”. On that page you will see recent news that can be read with acrobat reader. If you click on the “SEC Filings” it will take you to the latest information about the new company structure.
Hope this information helps.
It reminds me a lot of how many pyramid schemes make their money. Like Alfred’s story–first they tell you there’s no obligation and it’s free. Then they pressure you to spend some money. If you do that, they pressure you to buy more expensive “educational” materials.
If you don’t buy the educational materials, you’re told that you don’t care about your economic future, whatnot, and that you’re going to be a loser.
If everyone were “investors” and speculators, as the Rich Dad mindset seems to be, we’d all be hustling each other with giant Ponzi schemes and doing our best to screw over the other guy before he notices that NOBODY is producing anything of value.
Oh, wait, welcome to the freaking U.S. economy. Investors and Wall Street will be the death of us all. The ONLY way to build wealth is to not spend money. That means work hard, and live within your means. It’s not rocket science. “Making your money work for you” and other such euphemisms are marketspeak for “make somebody else work and suck your living from their sweat”. That’s what investors are; financial vampires. That only works for as long as the cattle are happy and nobody bothers to look behind the curtain.
“Savers are losers” seems to be a key of the Rich Dad mantra, or at least the advertisements. Yup, they are losers, but only because the &*$% investors are sucking them dry. Welcome to the new serfdom.
I don’t despise these sort of scammers because they are rich, I loathe them because of how much damage they are causing.
Allright, so I issued comment #21. You’ll recall that we exercized our 3 day right of recission, and my wife drove the Notice of Cancellation over to Cape Coral from Miami. A few days later we were called and they set up a conference call up for me and my wife for them to offer us other packages that were not available at the seminar. We had a conference with the “opener” who buttered us up… getting us saying “yes.” It was getting late so I asked if we could put off the next sales guy until the following day. Bottom line was that my wife and I resolved to say “can we sleep on it.” I repeatedley told the guy that if he had to close this deal tonight then, it was not going to happen. He told me when you have a good RE deal you have to jump on it, and that we must not be serious about our education. He was getting rude, and I couldn’t abide it. I tlod him that I’ve thought longer about spending $100.00, and certainly he wouldn’t begrudge me 24 hours to part with $17K. He was carrying on about how if my education was important the amount of money shouldn’t matter. I told him that if the amount of money didn’t matter then why not offer me the course for $1K… because the amount of money always makes a difference!!! my eyes were wide open to the cheap psychological tactics.
After trying to give me a massive wallet-ectomy, he then told me that he has other less expensive programs, but then informed me that he has not yet invited me to be a part of the team… to wihich I sarcastically responded, “well now I gots to have me some of that.” He carried on for a while and I told him if he wants to ewxplain other programs, I would like to sleep on it. He was audibly frustrated, and practically hung up on me… what a jerk!
I’ve read one book of RK. As an accountant, and business person (as I would like to see myself) I agree with a lot of the basics mentioned in the book.
For those who hate RK, cut him some slack. He is a businessman, who saw an opportunity and is riding the wave. He did what most other successful businessmen did … and no one said you HAD to follow him.
I am heartbroken. I have trusted RK for the last 6 years. While I believe that reading RDPD changed my thinking about life, opportunities and money, I can not believe that RK has partnered with Russ Whitney. I have read that Whitney was convicted of armed robbery and felony hit and run. I have never respected Russ Whitney. I just returned from Day 2 of the 3 day seminar. My husband and I were ready to make an investment in our financial education until I googled Wealth Intelligence Academy and found an abundance of articles on http://www.ripoff.com about their SCAM. Save your money and avoid the FREE seminar at all costs. While I have learned some tidbits over the last two days, I am saddened that RK would sell out like this. The worst thing is that the course material is verbatum to what us taught in the old Russ Whitney seminars still listed on http://www.russwhitney.com. They didn’t even bother to change the course names…how lazy and sleezy.
My wife and I are eternal optomists! The rest of what follows is my experience and my humble opinion. We attended the freebie seminar and I swore I would keep my hands firmly in my pockets, but these modern day snake oil salesmen got me and the missus to pony up the $495.00 for the 3-day course. We received a purple bag filled with most of the content that we would ever receive for our $495. The 3 day seminar is about as contrived as most people have alluded. I predicted most of what happened and I still bought an expensive advanced package (more on that later)!!! Our instructors were motivational speakers, they were polite, respectful and inspirational! The three days were not a waste of time, if you take it for what its worth. For us it was a catalyst to take action. The 3 days can be broken down roughly as follows: 1/3 motivational, 1/3 sales pitch, and 1/3 reasonably solid content. So I figure with the purple bag of materials, the inspiration and about one day of real-estate strategy overview, yeah, it was worth the $495.00… For those with unrealistic expectations that they were going to get a detailed education on all aspects of real estate, I can understand the dissapointment, but they should examine their own expectations. For those who expected three solid days of real estate content, I can also understand empathize with the frustration.
With respect to the WIA courses… I wanted to take advantage of the “bargain,” but didn’t have the time or means to execute my due dilligence. So after a bit of due dilligence, a whole lot of buyer’s remorse, and having what I call my “Kaiser Sose” moment, My wife is currently driving home to Miami from Cape Coral with our copy of the Notice of Cancellation signed and dated by the recipient after being hand-delivered to WIA’s Cape Coral Office. We remain motivated, but there is more than one way to skin this cat, and going deeper into debt is ironically contrary to Rich Dad’s teaching and just plain counterintuitive!!! I wish my former classmates all the best! Before we left, they made us promise not to quit: we are not going to quit!
Regarding my “Kaiser Sose” moment. this is a reference to the moment in the film The Usual Suspects where the cop flashes back and puts together all the clues that Kevin Spacey’s character was feeding him to paint a compelling picture of a lie. I can’t say WIA is selling a lie, after all I didn’t take the courses. Nevertheless, I concur with the occurrence of all the small manipulations that I have read about this 3 day seminar. But the one which resonated with me the most was “take the next 3 days off of real estate, your brain is a mess,” and “call to set up your courses on Wednesday.” along with all the other small manipulations, the fact that putting this out of our minds for three days effectively nullifies our 3-day right of recision was one manipulation too many! I just hated the feeling of having been finessed and sold!
I had half a mind to call my classmates to see where their heads were at, but for one i’d rather not be hit with a law suit for tortious interference with a contract, and two, they left feeling positive and that is the right headspace to be in. For me, I feel positive knowing that I am beginning my own bold new education without being out of pocket $35K!!!
I really have no agenda, but if explaining my experience is helpful to anyone, then you are welcome.
Many years ago I went to a Russ Whitney seminar in New Jersey. On the board they had a testimonial from someone who had used their real estate program. Included was that person’s address in Cape Coral, FL. Since I was moving to Cape Coral, I did some research and found out that the address did not exist. Lee County, FL has a website that gives you info on all the properties in the county. (www.leepa.org) If you type in 1612 East Cape Coral Parkway, you get an error message that no such property exists. If you do a search on a mapping program, that address does come up in the general vacinity of the Russ Whitney Education Building on Cape Coral Parkway. Why they don’t use a legitimate address is unknown.
Anyone attending the 1 day or 3 day event and purchase additional training products, offered by Rich Dad Academy & Wealth Intelligence Academy are provided a bill of sale and notice of cancellation slip to use. They are not provided the fax# required to cancel their agreement in the Florida jurisdiction where this contract binds the student.
The following documentation below describes the last 72 hours I have spent trying to obtain information from this company in order to cancel and confirm enrollment, membership, financial obligations, return all materials provided, return software
(my 15 year old son opened and installed on his personal computer) to this company. To cancel this transaction they suggest using certified or registered mail. They fail to inform the consumer the cancellation must be faxed to cancel the transaction.
9/5/07 I attended a free one day seminar from Rich Dad Education. I was required to pay $495 and sign a contract that I received cds & workbooks in order to attend a 3 day workshop to follow.
Rich Dad Education wrote in their contract a no cost 6 month trial Fast Track membership that will expire on ___ (no date entered). They also list a renewal of the membership prior to the date of expiration at the current renewal fee. This area is also blank with no renewal fee indicated.
10/05/07 At the 3 day workshop I purchase but then decide to cancel additional training classes but their staff informs me they can not reverse any transaction purchases to their advanced training classes and that I must use their Notice of Cancellation within 3 business days to cancel.
10/08/07 A national holiday in Canada (where I live) forces me to wait until day 2 to cancel this transaction by their suggested certified or registered mail. They fail to inform the consumer the cancellation must be faxed to cancel the transaction.
10/09/07 I expedite by certified mail requiring a signature to Rich Dad Education at 1612 East Cape Coral Parkway Cape Coral, FL 33904. I call their toll free number listed on the cancellation contract 1-800-978-8068 but I am told I have reached their Utah office not their Florida office. None of the phone agents will give me their name, a fax#, business location or employee id for my tracking records. I spend several hours calling all their company numbers provided asking for a fax# to send my cancellation but they all tell me they do not have a fax and they give me another phone number to try. Every phone number I am told the same thing that they do not give out their fax# their own full name, mailing location, fax numbers or company employee number for my tracking records. When I ask for a return authorization or a confirmation # , again all the agents repeat the same thing they do not give out their name, confirmation # etc. I call my credit card company and they inform me the $34,059.46 status is in pending and would not be posted by the merchant for several more days. I call Rich Dad back to inform them I have cancelled by certified registered letter and the agent hangs up. I call back and they hang up again. When I call my credit card company they tell me the charge posted against my account. I immediately put the amount in dispute and closed the card.
10/09/07 UPS 519-977-0404 cancellation notice signed by Suarez at 10:26 a.m. I call the company to ask to speak with Suarez and I am told that is a women but she is not available. I ask the agent for her name but he tells me he can not give her name or a direct number for me to call. When I call back another agent tells me Suarez is a man and no longer with them.
10/10/07 I send two more registered cancellation letters and several faxes to several different locations and fax phone numbers that I have identified from my research through their incorporation articles.
I call 1-877-817-7377 to cancel any software package membership they want to activate after a 15-day free trial period. The agent Tom and his supervisor Rhett will not give me their full names, a fax#, their building location or any information to mail my cancellation. Eventually they give me a California address that I can not confirm even exits or is registered to the Rich Dad company as they will not give me a phone number to that location.
When I call to cancel any membership renewal obligation I am given many different phone numbers to call for my cancellation notice in many different states (California, Utah, Florida, Texas). When I call the phone agents will not give me their full name or employee #for my records or a fax # for me to use so I can send the cancellation. I ask for a mailing address to return the workbooks and they tell me they will email me instructions and mail a return authorization# letter. I ask for a mailing address so I will return materials but they tell me they do not know the mailing address. When I ask about the fax cancellations that I have sent Stephanie (who will not give her last name) tells me they process their faxes on Thursday. I point out to her that processing fax cancellations on Thursday is outside of the 3 day cancellation window. I sent a cancellation on day two and day three in order to cancel a $34,059 training course with a registered certified cancellation carrier that recorded signature ‘SUAREZ’. When I call again to speak to this individual no one knows who this is or who signed for this package delivery. They now tell me no one works there by that name. I have witnesses and the UPS store manager placed the cancellation document into the sealed envelope before expediting it to the office they provided. I have spent almost 20 hours in two days on the phone and no one will give me confirmation. They tell me they do not know their mailing address or their supervisors name or the CEO of their company name. No one will send me an email confirmation and no one will give me an answer to the status of my cancellation refund and who is the employee that signed for the registered package. Rick Ludwitz tells me Aldolpha Suarez signed for my package and to watch my email for instructions.
UPS Faxed cancellation notice to Rich Dad Education and Equimine software & Wealth Intelligence Academy. (See documents attached) Agent tells me the Equimine web site is under construction and not available.
Tom Jenkins 1-877-817-7377 tells me he has cancelled software membership. I ask for a fax# but he says he can not give that out, he does not know his building location for me to mail and he does not know the CEO name of his company. He will not tell me anything to help confirm the software monthly billing and the fast track membership is cancelled.
This company does business under many names at the same location:
Rich Dad Education http://www.richdad.com or http://www.richdadeducation.com
Wealth Intelligence Academy http://www.wiaacademy.com or http://www.wia.com
Whitney Information Network Inc http://www.wincorporate.com 239-542-0643
Whitney Education Group, Inc 239-542-0643
1612 East Cape Coral Parkway Cape Coral FL 33904
1-800-978-8068 (Stephanie tells me this number rings to their Utah office)
1-800-570-2050 (Stephanie tells me this number rings to their Florida office)
Rich Dad’s Corporate offices
CashFlow Technologies Inc
4330 N. Civic Center Plaza Suite 100
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
Many of these numbers I called more than once trying to cancel all financial and future charges. I have made over 45-75 calls during a 72 hour period.
Phone Numbers that I have called to confirm cancellation with no luck:
1-800-978-8068 (Stephanie tells me this number rings to their Utah office)
1-800-570-2050 (Stephanie tells me this number rings to their Florida office)
1-800-741-7877 Building Wealth
239-540-6575 Corporate Headquarters asked what position I am interested in?
1-800-238-0741 Building Wealth
1-800-956-0656 Attendance Training
1-800-916-0011 (This agent tells me she is a telemarketer who processes orders located in west Phillipines outside of the United States)
1-800-570-2070 Wealth Intelligence Academy
1-866-302-8058 Teach me to trade
1-888-831-6866 Whitney Information Network
1-800-317-3905 The Company
1-800-308-3585 Rich Dad
1-800-317-3905 Agent Dave tells me this number is Rich Dad The Company and all product returns are handled at the Scottsdale Arizona location
1-800-570-2070 WIA
1-800-978-8068 Rich Dad Education
1-800-238-0741 Rich Dad Education
1-877-817-7377 Real Estate Success
1-800-701-7877
512-463-222 Tim Menor Texas Workforce commission
1-800-741-7877 Texas students
1-866-302-8058
1-888-831-6866
1-800-741-7877
1-800-317-3905
1-800-570-2050 Agent Tom Jenkins tells me my CUID# is 28167 when I call back the next agent does not know what a CUID # is and tells me they do not give them out.
1-866-601-6152 Whitney Canada The conference hotline select #2 for Rich Dad
1-800-741-7877 ext 6110 Rick Ludwick Building Wealth offered a $20,000.00 discount if I will not cancel the contract. He tells me Aldolfo Suarez signed for the cancellation package. When I call back he is angry with me and asks why I called back within 20 minutes and spoke to James Turner right after I had spoken with him on the cancellation.
Rick Ludwick calls and leaves a message for me to call him back at 1-800-978-8068 ext 6110. I do not return his call as an earlier conversation he gave me another number at the same extention.
10/11/07 I leave a message with Rick Ludwick and Paul Shwenwin to call me back.
1-800-240-0434 Rich Dad coaching Paul Shwenwin ext. 32826 calls back wanting to setup an interview to join their mentoring for over $5,000.00 when I ask him to contact Stephanie on the cancel confirmation he tells me he does not know her.
He goes on to tell me Rich Dad Education has contracted Wealth Intelligence Academy but that they are two different companies. (I do not ask him why the two bills for each company give the same exact address.)
Three fax# confirmations sent see attachment documenting they were sent the cancellation notice 801-269-5178, 1-239-443-1997, 1-239-540-6569
10-11-07 spoke with Anthony who told me the Fast Track Program membership I am trying to cancel (but can not get a confirmation) is a quick way to learn educational conferences lasting 2hr at a yearly renewal of $500 cost to stay with the program
Did you get to cancel your purchase wiht full refund and/or no charges? After reading this post I want to cancel my purchase of the three day seminar. Please let me know.
Well people wealth isn’t going to fall into your laps I went and I gained more than just basic knowledge even got more deals amd doubled my profits it’s all know you believe in it and how you approach it most people won’t ever achieve wealth one simply because they are too lazy and think they have what it takes to make change but most people don’t and won’t even if they had all the answers sitting right in front of them Robert kiyosaki is a great teacher and it was one of the very beat seminars I had ever been to I don’t look at how many investments that went my way but how many I had to rebuild or restructure it most people fold went deals go bad I look at the room for growth I’m thankful for his teachings
Wow… I thought I was the only one who learned this at the seminar in Silver Spring Md on Aug 17-19. At least I was smart enough to raise my limit but passed on using it for the 37945 cash flow certifacte/with mentor. on site offer was a bargin 23,990 price. Though a new car would be a better investment.
The fortune-in-real-estate crowd is fast being relegated to the back burner. The sub-prime mess has served as an open invitation to con men of every ilk to get into this field, at every level. And, they are doing so. Check it out. The newest twists in this “game” are frightening.
I agreed with you, Emily I think we went to the same seminar in LA. haha..
Ugh! My husband went to the free seminar and he got sucked into paying the $500 for the 3 day seminar. A lot of the time during the three days was spent selling the advanced seminars which can range from $5000 – $50,000. The whole thing is a HUGE scam. The instructor even had everyone call their credit card company during the first day to find out how much you could raise your limit. Then in day two he suggested that the way to finance the very expensive advanced courses is to of course use your credit card! We hardly learned anything useful and teh whole experience was just frustrating!
I’m attending a similar seminar under the name Financial Education. It sounds pretty similar to Rich Dad. It was close to $2K to attend the 3 day “training”. Day one was mostly hype talk about investing in real estate along with general breakdowns of the different ways to do it . They instructed us on our lunch break to call our credit card company to raise our limits and also to write down all the resources we have to gather capital for deals (bank account, 401k, family & friends, etc.). The second day was more hype and general info (foreclosure deals were emphasized) and at the end of the day, they introduced us to the advanced training needed to ‘really get going’ ranging from $12K to $30K. I haven’t gotten to day 3 yet. I hope I’ll come out knowing how to make at least the simplest of deals but I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole day is just another big sales pitch.
rich dad poor dad is horrible. I love the tactics these ripoff conventions use. $500 “discount” prices… give me a break.
I’ve noticed reading the comments to RK’s yahoo column that he has a group of true believers who think the most trite and often wrong analysis from RK is wisdom from heaven. I have a better understanding of his followers now that I have learned that some have paid thousands to attend his seminars. Their need to believe that RK is insightful is a psychological defense to avoid facing the fact that they have wasted alot of money
Maybe, but numbers don’t lie. Did they make money by following the instructions or not? (If they didn’t do what the training said and lost money, well, you know the saying..if at first you don’t succeed, next time do what the coach told you to do in the first place.)
His workshops are full of crap but you gotta admit he’s got a lot of people convinced.
Kiyosaky teaches just some very basic principles in savings and investment. However, in reading this post, and some of his works, I would agree that much of his strategy is to stay rich by teaching students esoteric basics. In looking for practitioners and mentors to follow in each field of investment, I would look to the industry and the communities around them. Investing in foreclosure and real estate is a hot topic online and there are some great resources out there.
-4MySales
Landmark is a very controversial group that has nothing to do really with education or business
See this link before you let them mess with your mind or your business.
http://www.rickross.com/groups/landmark.html
I noticed the last few days many posts/blogs like this.
This is just a sub-rosa campaign to get an interest going.
It is really a part of LE’s lack of full disclosure.
Pretty much in truth spam
If Rick Ross had any actual expertise or credentials for what he is talking about OR had ever completed any Landmark course I might be more inclined to listen to him. Given none of that is true, he’s just another guy on the internet with an (unsupported) opinion, albeit with a more polished website that most. I’ll put my stock in the comments of people who have legitimate credentials and/or have actually taken and completed a Landmark course. (All of which has nothing to do with Rich Dad, but I’m not the one who brought it up.)
Funny that you mention Landmark: my brother-in-law is a big believer in their “courses”. In the spirit of open-mindedness I went to one of the guest-invitationals and tried to get it, but I just don’t. Apart from the courses, at least they aren’t telling people to go out and take financial risks without proper instruction. Pretty harmless New Age religion, as far as I’m concerned.
Brip Blap said:”I think there’s a good way and a bad way to take Kiyosaki. I like some of his non-conventional thinking and the way Rich Dad, Poor Dad made me challenge some of my assumptions about money.”
I so agree with this statement. I’ve read a few of Kiyosaki’s books, I’ve even played the “Cash Flow” game and I can say that he has changed some of my thinking of wealth, work and money.
Yes, the information in his book is rudimentary to the “financial savvy” and the people that go all-out and make his “message” akin to “the Church of Personal Finance” ARE a kind of . . . strange (for a lack of a better term). But there are people out there (pointing at me) who really had no clue that they were actually IN the “rat race”, who were indoctrinated in the “get a job and the boss/union will take care of you” philosophy.
He was really by spring board to educate myself on personal finance and wealth-minded topics and creating my own life. I think where others went wrong was their “reliance” on him and only him for their financial well-being. They kind of transferred their reliance on “the boss” to their reliance on Kiyosaki and his methods, instead of making a unique (personalized) path for themselves.
Well said.
Good perspective. I agree, well said.
I like Kiyosaky’s books – I have them all. But I wouldn’t buy a ticket for his seminar – I had the money but I think it just doesn’t worth them.
This is a website to check out on Kiyosaki. It says it all.
http://www.johntreed.com/Kiyosaki.html
My sister and brother-in-law are huge followers of Kiyosaki. They have the board game, a mentor and have spent at least $10k in seminars (and travel to the seminars).
Unfortunately, they will also be filing for bankruptcy in the next 30 days because of an extremely ill-advised decision to buy a failing business and use their home as collateral. They will be leaving their home of 11 years.
They were financially secure until they tied up with their Rich Dad mentor. Caveat emptor, due dilligence and all that but brother-in-law’s dad passed on several years ago and the mentor preyed upon that – “Your dad would have wanted you to do this”. I found that to be very shady and unethical yet I’m frustrated that my sister and her husband fell for it.
They were planning to start a family this year. Guess they’ll have to wait till they rebuild.
I understand your frustration. It’s painful to watch family make terrible financial decisions. I have done it for too long and now force myself to not watch.
A family member and I took one of his 1-day stock/investing seminars after an invite/spam from IBD. There was a lot of good information and we fell for the up-sell to the $300 3-day training. Even more good information in keeping with the Rich Dad philosophy. We learned even more.
As the training went on there was a growing up-sell undercurrent. Starting on the first day, as ‘Matt Justice’ figured out that certain trainees would not fall for the next up-sell, he would focus pressure on them to make them feel uncomfortable enough to leave. The class size dwindled down over time and others came in to ‘help’. They are good salespeople and know their market well. We watched as they culled out attendees for their advanced training and support. I waited as long as I could to go off to the side for their sales pitch. I assume they gave Matt the non verbal signal that I wasn’t going to the next level and his interaction with me became combative, questioning every answer I gave as well as my intelligence and honesty. Fortunately, I checked my ego at the door. I stayed for the rest of the training and learned even more.
If you go to one of these events, I recommend you do as I did: Leave your self respect home and your wallet in your pocket.
I feel we got a good value for what we paid, but have never regretted not going to the next level.
I’ve just completed the same course with the same instructor after attending the free workshop. The sales techniques were brutal in my opinion. I think, all in all, about 30% of the whole thing was an up sell. I felt very sorry for those who didn’t know what was going on re all the emotional hooks, fear tactics, etc. I think that outside of that environment Matt would probably be a good instructor and when he wasn’t selling, the information was good but it was presented in a way that left you feeling that you needed to SPEND more time to get your head around it (fast speaking when the subject matter was more complicated) and any questions were not welcome. The targeting certain people stuff was happening as well.
If I’d have signed up for a 2 day financial market seminar + 1 day of how to get people to part with their money brutal sales workshop I’d be pretty happy but unfortunately that wasn’t what I signed up for.
.
Lesson learned – do proper research on the course before committing to any sort of training.
I think there’s a good way and a bad way to take Kiyosaki. I like some of his non-conventional thinking and the way Rich Dad, Poor Dad made me challenge some of my assumptions about money. All that having been said, most of what he says (vague as it is) about real estate is fluff. He made his money writing books and giving seminars, not investing in real estate. I’m sure he did alright but it’s hard to track down his ‘real’ property holdings, and very easy to walk into a Barnes & Noble and see copies of RDPD.
That money would be better spent on getting a real estate license or even better as part of down payment on a real estate investment. Or buying $1000+ worth of real estate law/etc. books.
You’re not going to be able to track his real property holdings. He holds his real property and other investments under other legal entities like Trusts, LLCs and Corporations. I’ve heard of people trying to debunk Kiyosaki on that issue, but it doesn’t hold water. He’s doing what he recommends everyone else to do, which is find the deals, get them under contract, and work them however you see fit, and do it through a legal entity to protect your assets while using the tax benefits to grow your holdings. In addition, you don’t have to know everything (that’s what your team is for), just how to make and structure the deal, which takes some education, which need not be obtained through the workshops, although they may be good for the right people. The reason the workshops are held, is that people want them. The trouble is, those same people aren’t going to do anything with what they learn, because they have no spine to begin with. They want to be rich, but are not willing to do the WORK it takes to make it happen. If they change their thinking and actually work smart, minimize their risk, expect to fail, and learn from their mistakes as well as their successes, they’ll really have nothing to worry about. They’re not succeeding because of a bigger issue, and that’s themselves getting in their own way. Robert’s key message is financial education, and he never says that you will get rich quick, but that real estate is the best way to get rich (which is true) and is as simple (not easy, SIMPLE) as he says. If more people had a better financial education, we wouldn’t have had so many subject to foreclosure. All of those who are whining about not succeeding after reading his books and taking his seminars made bad bets, while using their home as an ATM instead of doing it the right way. All that said, it’s not like launching rockets, people, but if you want to get rich, you’re better off playing the lottery.
I say you’re right, people missed the whole point in which was when he started he said “what the Rich teach their children that poor and middle class do not”. Well if they firstly had a reading skill which helps highlighting important points, they wouldn’t be lost in the idea of becoming rich can be as SIMPLE as Robert Says. It takes a person to make change not somebody’s words…they are meant to encourage your sleeping edge of success.So he advises people to teach their young ones about creating financial wellbeing by Learning Accounting basics, Markets, taxation and The law.
I have absolutely no respect for Robert Kiyosaki. He’s one of the so-called “expert” columnists on http://finance.yahoo.com. However, if you actually read any of the “articles” that he puts out there, you’ll see that he doesn’t have any worthwhile ideas. I’m convinced his whole motivation/goal is just to sell more books and tickets to seminars.