Why We Want You To Be Rich. Robert T. Kiyosaki

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      For those of you who have seen The Apprentice, you are probably familiar with the gilded entrance to Trump Tower on New York City’s famous Fifth Avenue. Standing on the sidewalk, I leaned back and let my gaze climb the heights, story after story until my eyes finally found the point where the building and the sky met. Trump Tower is definitely a lot bigger than any building Kim and I own. Although I had walked by the building many times, it looked much taller when I knew I was going inside for a meeting with Donald.

      Being on Fifth Avenue brought back so many memories. I remembered looking up at buildings like this when I first came to New York to start school at the Merchant Marine Academy in 1965. I was a poor Hawaiian kid in the Big City for the first time.

      And here I was, 40 years later, invited by Donald Trump to his office and his building. At that moment, I had a major reality check.

      Most people consider me to be very successful. I have made and lost millions of dollars following the principles that I share in the Rich Dad books. But standing in front of Trump Tower, I suddenly realized how far I had come. It was an incredible feeling.

      I remembered one of Donald’s favorite sayings, “Think big!” Just by standing in front of his building, I realized how much bigger my thinking was that day than it was when I had first arrived in New York in 1965. “Wow!” I said aloud. Kim just squeezed my hand.

      Taking a deep breath, we entered Trump Tower and proceeded to the elevators where security guards greeted us. Once cleared, we entered the elevator and rode it to one of the top floors from which Donald runs his empire.

      If you have watched The Apprentice, you are familiar with the entrance to Donald Trump’s office with the attractive receptionist guarding the door. (For those of you with inquiring minds, Donald had a replica of his office built a few floors below his office for the television show. Instead of walking into his real boardroom, he takes an elevator down and walks into the replica of his boardroom.) Although I had watched the program many times, never did I ever think that I might one day be walking into Donald Trump’s world.

      It was a strange experience to feel like I was on the set of the show. My mind continually flashed back and forth between the television show and real life.

      The first person to greet us, once the receptionist had us take a seat, was Keith, Donald Trump’s giant bodyguard. When he saw us, Keith took the time to greet us warmly as if we were old friends. He sat down next to us and made us feel completely at home. I could not believe how gracious he was as he told us about his previous career as a New York City detective and his current career as a personal bodyguard for Donald. He stayed with us, offered us water and kept us company until the door to the main office opened and Meredith walked in.

      Meredith is the classic young New York City executive woman, an attractive woman who would be perfectly at home in London, Paris, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto or Beijing. She extended her hand and offered us a warm smile as she said, “Great to finally meet you.”

      After thanking Keith for his graciousness, Kim and I followed Meredith through the glass doors and into the boardroom, the real boardroom. As we took our seats, my mind again began to flash to scenes from the television program, with male and female apprentice candidates sitting across the table Donald and his advisors. I silently asked myself, “What are you doing here? How did you get here?” (Actually, the words I really used were, “What the (bleep) am I doing here?” And, “How the (bleep) did I get here?”).

      After a few minutes of chatting, Meredith asked, “What would you like to write about?”

      “Well, I am very concerned about poverty,” I replied. “I believe we could write about what we would do to end it. The title could be Ending Poverty.”

      Meredith nodded. “That could be a possible subject.”

      “Or, I’m concerned about how the rich are getting richer, but America as a nation gets poorer. We could write about the demise of the middle class and the poor; how high-paying jobs are being exported to China and India. I’ve also been concerned for a long time about pensions disappearing and Social Security and Medicare going broke just as baby boomers begin to retire.”

      “Mr. Trump is also very concerned about those issues,” Meredith said. “He wrote a great book about it.”

      “The America We Deserve,” Kim said.

      “Yes,” replied Meredith. “He wrote about his concern with those issues as well as the threat of terrorist attacks even before the attack on September 11th.”

      “Before 9/11?” asked Kim.

      Meredith nodded, “He has a whole section not only on terrorism, but he also talks about the out-of-control national debt. But he doesn’t just identify problems; he also goes into his unique solutions.”

      Kim nodded. She had loved the book.

      Meredith continued, “There is a lot more to Mr. Trump than simply television shows, beauty pageants, casinos and real estate. Anyone concerned with our current global problems and how to solve them should read his book.”

      “So we definitely have some issues in common. We have both been teachers and speakers. I find it interesting that such a rich and famous celebrity as Donald Trump would speak to the general public. In fact, I have been curious about why he teaches. But we’re both always in such a hurry, I never get a chance to ask him.”

      “He’s a natural teacher,” Meredith said. “I’ve seen that over the years working for him. Just look at The Apprentice. When Mark Burnett proposed the idea for the show to him, Mr. Trump insisted the show have educational value or he wouldn’t do it.”

      “Exactly,” Kim said. “I watch for the lessons in business. And I like learning how he handles different situations. But the best part is how he shares the thought process behind his actions. I like knowing why he fires someone.”

      I said, “The Apprentice is entertaining as well as educational. I don’t feel like I’m wasting my time. I always feel I’ve learned something practical, something I can use.”

      “Maybe the angle of this book is that you are both teachers,” Kim chimed in. “After all, you both are entrepreneurs and real estate investors. You founded a gold-mining company in China and took it public, also a real estate investment company, a silver-mining company in South America, and an oil company. Lots of people know that, just like they know about Trump Tower and Trump Place. But they don’t know the two of you are teachers.”

      Most rich people don’t want others to know how they got rich, much less tell people about their failures…

      I want people to know because it’s how I learned so much. I want people to know that, rich or poor, we all have financial problems.

       – Robert T. Kiyosaki

      “I failed to find oil,” I said sarcastically.

      Kim laughed. “Not every business succeeds,” she said.

      “And Mr. Trump has not always succeeded,” added Meredith. “He’s had his challenges, too.”

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