The definitions of these four quadrants are important. As an employee, you have a job. As a self-employed person, you own a job. As a business owner you have a system (such as a franchise like McDonald's) that produces cash flow for you and others work for you. As an investor, your money works for you. Rich people are getting more than 70 percent of their cash flow and income by having money work for them.

One of the strengths of the book is that it deals with the subtle psychological differences among people in the four different quadrants, especially on subjects like security and freedom. Kiyosaki and Lechter then do a nice job of helping you understand the difference between risky and taking risk. The latter is a good idea, when you know what you are doing, and the former is always to be avoided.

The book is not dogmatic, pointing out that good results can be reached in a variety of ways. You have to decide which ones are right for you. In general, you are encouraged to move from the employee and self-employed side for your income to the business owner and investor side. Then, take your cash flow and expand it into investments.

Another of the strengths of the book is to make it clearer what the advantages of income property are. In these Internet stock-crazed days, many are looking only to stocks and missing good commercial property opportunities.

There are lots of good questions you can use to help frame your road through the cash flow quadant. At a minimum, you will become much more financially literate. With the help of the 7 steps here for making the necessary changes, you should begin to make the transition.

The book has a nice conversational tone that turns personal economics into common sense examples and principles.

The downside of any book about changing your life is that you can read it much faster than you can master the lessons and apply them. I suggest that you schedule time to reread this book over the next 10 years. That's the best way to check up on yourself and how you are doing.

I do recommend that you read Rich Dad, Poor Dad first. You'll get much more out of this book if you do that. Then you'll begin to see opportunities where others see difficulties. Good luck with fulfilling your goals!

222 of 236 found the following review helpful:


Cash FROTH Quid pro quo!  Jan 07, 2004 By dranansi "dranansi"
A friend recommended this book to me. I quote from the introduction "The CFQ was written for you if your life has come to a financial fork in the road." I read with enthusiasm for the first couple of chapters then the repetition in the text started to annoy. About half way it had become an irritation to the soul but I gritted my teeth and read on! By the end I was really, really, really steamed.

The author could have reduced the number of pages by (a) 25% by dedicating this book to his wife and stating that they were poor with no assets and living out of a vehicle and off friends' graces before becoming financially free several years later. (b) another 25% by eliminating the repetition. (c) another 25% by eliminating the repetitive diagrams especially the EBSI one. (d) did I mention the repetition?

Interestingly, while the book deals with their success in general terms, it does not say HOW they did it. Indeed, the author and his wife did not appear in their own cash flow quadrant since there is no place for U [my creation] meaning the Unemployed.

So the question remained, How did they go from U and destitute to B and I in the CFQ? The answer is real estate we are told. Ok, but how does one without a job or collateral secure funds to pay the required 10% deposit. We are carefully told NOT to break the law. Real estate is key but WHERE to buy seems to be a problem. The author was magically ably to buy huge portions of land cheaply and sell with massive profits. We learn that the author learned three invaluable methods of negotiation previously unknown to him but are carefully not told what these methods were.

We are told that a true B or business owner can leave his business for a year and return to find it still functioning and more profitable than when he left it. I guess he is speaking of the fortune 500 companies then. We are told of the author's real estate properties that generate income whether he works or not. Mention is also made of mutual funds and "other" ventures. Yes, but HOW was this done...we are left to wonder.

We are then told of some failed business practices and that the majority of businesses fail however, he recommended becoming a B before moving to an I. When investing, this should be done carefully with advice of those in the know but again we are not told how or what to invest in because the author did not like giving specifics because each person's circumstance was different. ..However, in his NEXT book, RDPD's guide to investing, all will be revealed!

In his conclusion, the author reminds us to mind our own business and get into the right mind set by playing his board game CF. DUUHH!

He then proceeds to compares three groups, the Broke masses, the successful middle class investor and the rich. One group [guess which one?] has resources listed as: RDPD, CFQ, CF Game, RK tapes etc.

Finally, we live in a real world. What about persons with CHILDREN? How does this impact with day care, school fees, attendance and pick up. Funny enough, no mention is made about these entities that require HUGE sums of money to maintain, having an impact on our financial adventure!

Recommendation: Read the Richest Man in Babylon instead. It is shorter and has everything that you want to know and you can start immediately! It outlines broad principles and formulas that work which can help the ordinary person as well as the E, S or B move between quadrants and save to become an investor. It can even help the U's get into a quadrant! It talks about your family, children , wife etc. It has certainly helped me. The multiple streams of income are explained, as is the use of your money to work so you don't have to, all clearly laid out. And this book was written over 50 years ago!

Read also the Wealthy Barber, I view this as an essential follow up to the Richest Man in Babylon in the unlikely event that your eyes did not light up after reading it for the first time. This will tell you the specifics instruments available that will help you.

This book CFQ, [all 251+ pages] should have been edited removing the 82.5% FROTH leaving approximately 30 pages of material for second edit!

Comment: this book does nothing to help the ordinary citizen move into financial freedom. What it does do is ensure a stream of income for the author whether he works or not! By constantly mentioning the super rich such as Bill Gates, Ford, and so on makes one think. Of the over 220 Million persons in the USA how many Bill Gates are they? He is the exception, not he rule!

If it were possible to give negative stars, I would have here. This incomplete, rushed, advertising marvel seemed to have captured the imagination of some readers by using a diagram and re-presenting material that has been well presented elsewhere. By the way, one reader compared this book to the Richest Man in Babylon. In a word..don't. That would be like comparing little leaguers to the superbowl!

In conclusion I cannot recommend this book. It is Cash Froth Quid pro quo. We give cash; he gives froth, quid pro quo! Hence 1 star.

195 of 207 found the following review helpful:


This guy can write. Powerful book!  Mar 14, 2002
Not since "Who Stole the American Dream" by Burke Hodges has anone written a book that dispels the notion of go to college, get a job and work hard--ENT!Not since How to Make Nothing But Money, a NY times best seller by Dave DelDotto has anyone explained with clarity the power of paper; Real Estate, Tax Liens and Discound Mortgages.Self employment is the way to go and this book proves that the American Dream is ALIVE & WELL.In this decade and beyond, more money will be made in network marketing, real estate and the stock market than ever before.Anyone who wants to participate in that growth must read this book.I also recommend Wall Street Money Machine for the new Millenium for powerful cash flow strategies.

149 of 157 found the following review helpful:


Better than the first book  May 31, 2003
I disagree with the readers who feel that CFQ is inferior or at best, just RDPD in another cover. CFQ goes into more detail the whole Cash Flow concept. Of course, anyone who has actually read the books already knows this which tells me that the bashers at best probably just skimmed the free sample pages here on Amazon and didn't even bother to read CFQ.

Good book. I highly recommend it.

164 of 174 found the following review helpful:


Broke the "Paycheck to Paycheck" Cycle  Jul 19, 2003
Before reading and more importantly, following the advise in Cash Flow Quadrant, I was like most people in that awful "paycheck to paycheck" cycle, "thank God it's Friday" and oh no, today it's Sunday, back to the old grindstone tomorrow" RUT.I was astonished the other day to talk with someone who I thought was doing pretty well financially. This individual said that if he missed2 paychecks, he would be bankrupt! Then I remembered that was were I was before I read and used the concepts in Cash Flow Quadrant!I would also recommend Who Stole The American Dream, The E-Myth Revisited And Multiple Streams of Income.

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