Rich Dad Poor Dad was one of the books that turned my vague concern about money into an actual subject. I was back in Patras, taking long bicycle rides, listening and trying to build a map of a world I had never been taught properly.
Assets, liabilities and cash flow are presented with almost aggressive simplicity. Accountants can produce more precise definitions. Kiyosaki wanted the reader to feel the direction of the money, and that part worked on me.
The book also pushed financial education outside the polite category of something to handle later. Earning a salary, owning something productive, financing consumption and building optionality are different operations. I wanted to understand them.
Some examples are crude and some claims deserve a calculator nearby. The value for me was the opening. Once the language entered my head, I could read more serious material and argue with it properly.
The book earned its place by opening a direction I kept following long after the final page.