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I am writing this letter to make known a dishonorable and deceptive business is operating out of California and targeting credit worthy innocent citizens wanting to better themselves. In order to detail the events of how I was taken advantage of and am now facing serious financial harm, I will detail the story of what has taken place over the past few months.
The company that I am filing a complaint against is Rich Dad Education LLC who I now know still wholly operates also as the Wealth Intelligence Academy. The total amount that I am disputing is $26, 125.52, which was to include four training classes and a mentor. This was upsold to me in a bait and switch scheme which included a free workshop, upsold to a three day weekend training course which taught people how to “raise their credit scores by increasing their credit card limits” (see the script attached) which was really to get people to be able to afford their outrageously over priced training courses which provided no guarantee of the satisfaction of their training.
There are a popular financial books like Rich Dad Poor Dad in which Robert Kiyosaki is the spokesperson for that I have been reading for years. I have been a follower of the teachings for a while and so I decided to want to know more. I went online to www.richdad.com and found that there were free seminars being given to teach people about investing. I signed my fiancé up for one and came as his guest. This was in August 2008. While at this free seminar we learned a little about real estate investing and was then up-sold to a three day weekend course which was$495 and advertised to teach you all about real estate investing. I signed up for the three day weekend course and was allowed to bring my fiancé as my guest. We were given a CD and workbook from Robert Kiyosaki’s Choose to Be Rich program as well as a real estate investing book that detailed strategies on Wholesaling, Lease Options, Foreclosures, and Negotiating, etc. They all had the Rich Dad Education branding on them (the purple and black wording) so I never thought there was any other company involved.
My fiancé and I attended the three day seminar on September 12-14th 2008 at the LAX Airport Hyatt. The first day of the training we were instructed by Scott Zuckman. We were taught some real estate investing strategies such as rehabbing and foreclosure. We were given books that all had the Rich Dad Education branding on them. We then went over a script that we were told to call our credit card companies with to increase our credit card limits so that we can increase our credit score. I have included a copy of that script.
The next day they gave us a booklet with courses in it showing that it teaches different strategies of real estate investing. None of them had prices. We were given a price sheet and then told to write in numbers that was written on the board. I have included that sheet as well. The prices ranged anywhere from $9, 000 to $60, 000. I was shocked at the cost, but I didn’t want to not continue the course that I paid for so we continued to go through the training. We were told to think about our financial future and if we wanted to change anything in our lives we were going to have to take action. Scott Zuckman kept repeating the number of $60, 000 and asked people to raise their hands who had access to that kind of cash this weekend. We were told if we signed up for this course we could become financially free within two years. We were told not to look on the internet because it has bad things on there (now I know why). That should have been a cue to leave and not go back, but I was really wanting to make a change in my life and I trusted the Rich Dad brand because Robert Kiyosaki is such a well known name.
The Wealth Intelligence Academy was told to us to be the people who do the training, but I assumed that was just what they called that section of the organization. I only realized much later after I got involved with the company that they have an awful reputation and a bad history of the exact thing I was conned into.
My fiancé and I almost did not attend the last day of training because we were so disgusted by how we were constantly being pressured to buy the program. We were told the only way to success was to at least learn 2-3 real estate investing strategies and have a mentor there to help you. That meant if we were going to sign up for any program at all it would at minimum have to be the four courses with the mentor which was $25, 997. I would have never signed up for the program prior because I did not have the means to pay for it, but now that I had increased my credit card limits and had the available credit I could purchase it. We were also taught about bad debt and good debt in this training. And good debt was an asset or anything that put money in your pocket as well as education. Everyone there that represented the company said that education was good debt and what you were going to learn you could pay off the credit cards in no time. I should not have believed anyone and stuck to what I always knew about how dangerous credit cards are. Another thing that didn’t occur to me at the time was, if they were such a good training program, why do they have to have all their money up front? Why don’t they have their own financing? Why don’t they have a money back guarantee? I was so new to anything like this at the time, that I never thought to question those things. Especially since I trusted the Robert Kiyosaki Rich Dad brand.
My fiancé and I attended two trainings in October 2008. They were the Rich U (which was a mandatory class) and Wholesaling. We were sorely disappointed in the training and after the Wholesaling course we started to realize that I was ripped off and taken advantage of.
Upon taking the first advanced training course (of the charge I am disputing), called Rich U, the training material provided was the Rich Dad brand. The instructor, Jennifer Oliver, however, did not go over all the material in the training manual provided and did not deliver the promised service of learning how to set up your real estate investing business and develop a plan. The class was very general and repetitive of other information already stated in the $495 three-day course given by the Rich Dad program.
Upon taking a second course (of the charge I am disputing), an advanced training class calling Wholesale Buying, taught by Travis Howard, the manuals were now all Wealth Intelligence Academy branded material. On the last day of the three-day training, I was told by a facilitator there, Shar, that if you came in through the Rich Dad system you were now a Wealth Intelligence Academy student. The training given was said to be complete instruction, however once again, the instructor did not go over all of the course material in the manuals given. Not only that, but the training manual given did not have very much more information than the initial three-day $495 real estate investing training guidebook. What was promised was very detailed instruction that was not included in the $495 three-day initial training, and what was delivered was nothing more than a long-winded version of the initial training. For the cost of the advanced training course, the value was no where near worth it. Also, when students asked questions about the course materials, the instructor avoided the answers and phrased the questions to be asked to a licensed professional such as a lawyer or accountant. The training received was not complete enough to start successfully wholesaling real estate properties as promised. It was incomplete in that it was promised that we would be able to “create immediate profit by learning how to put properties under contract and quickly sell them – with no money out of pocket”, but the contract examples given and explained in class were not sufficient to do such activity. The training also was told by all of the instructors to be teaching things that were moral, ethical, and legal.
However, when consulting three separate lawyers on the methods I was taught, one said it was illegal, while the other two said it was very risky and borderline ethical. They all three agreed that the contract examples given in the course were insufficient to conduct business and that they would require additional services to create substantial contracts.
This prompted me to question the legitimacy and the ethical standards of the Wealth Intelligence Academy a.k.a. Rich Dad Education. And when I further researched the company I found that they had been conducting unethical business practices and that the parent company, Whitney Leadership Group, Inc., had a lot of lawsuits brought against them for false advertising and aggressive marketing. Had I known that Rich Dad Education was actually in all completeness still the Wealth Intelligence Academy that was associated with the Whitney Leadership Group, Inc., I would not have purchased this program because of its bad reputation with the Better Business Bureau among other bad press about it’s aggressive pressure marketing techniques and unethical practices.
Not only that, but they were cited against for teaching a technique called “Bird Dogging” where a person collects a fee for referring distressed properties to an unlicensed investor. I questioned this technique to an attorney as well as I was taught it in their training and he stated that it was outright illegal since you must be a broker to engage in such activity. They are still teaching this technique in their training and it is documented in their written training material.
I read online a detailed incident publicized in another’s state local paper about a woman who attended a free seminar, which lead to another seminar for $500, and then told to call her credit cards to increase her credit lines and increase her credit and then told if she really wanting to be financially free she should purchase the over priced training and she did and was very unhappy, and the company was then found guilty of aggressive marketing and false advertising, except this was with the Whitney Education program who as I researched and found out is the affiliate company of the Wealth Intelligence Academy. When I read that story and found out the link between the Wealth Intelligence Academy and the Rich Dad Education as being the same company I was furious! How can a company who was found guilty of such practices still be allowed to do the same things under a difference name that people trust! The website /link removed/ has numerous complaints of people having the same issues that I am with the company. This needs to be addressed and the public has to become aware of this scheme to protect themselves and their good credit. My credit has now gone significantly down because of the balance I am carrying from this company who is in constant denial of my hardship situation.
I would also like to warn the Utah Attorney General’s Office against large charges made on the credit cards of people who may fall prey to the same aggressive marketing techniques, and misleading advertising to the Rich Dad brand. The way that they get people to purchase these programs is by offering a free seminar, which leads to a three-day weekend seminar for $495 where on the first day you are taught how to increase your credit card limits over the phone to supposedly increase your credit score. I have included a copy of the script they provide in the training material. All they are trying to do is have you have enough credit to purchase the largely overpriced education packages which range anywhere from $9, 000 to $60, 000. I believe most people are embarrassed, as I am myself, about what they were conned in to, to admit that the value of what they purchased was not at all what was promised.
I have been disputing the transactions with my credit card companies in an effort to seek resolution to the refund and they have provided the credit card companies with misleading information regarding correspondence between myself and Rich Dad Education as well as lying to the representatives. I have a letter from Chase Credit Cards stating that a representative from Rich Dad Education said I gave the reviews of their training as excellent, when I detailed in my reviews my dissatisfaction of their training. The Rich Dad Education representative stated that I also failed to provide information regarding a financial hardship I was having, when in fact I did provide follow up and sufficient evidence showing a 47% reduction in pay. When faxing information over to Discover card they submitted incomplete information regarding our correspondence which included only one of the four pay stubs I provided to show the difference of my financial hardship. The pay stub they submitted to Discover card was prior to my pay cut and the pay stubs that show the difference in my pay was never faxed to Discover card.
I would also to address how the company has lied and that the person your Chase representative spoke with at Wealth Intelligence Academy. The review that he stated that I said was excellent was not such as I specifically remember writing a detailed explanation of how I felt that the training was lacking. Also, I have information that was faxed by their corporate office to one of my credit card companies that forwarded it to me showing that I did in fact write in correspondence to my dismay of the company and their practices as well as not only respond to their asking for further information on my financial hardship, but I provided ample information showing my decrease in pay. Their response was that it was not enough to demonstrate a sufficient hardship. It is a 47% reduction in pay! I believe that to be more than sufficient of a financial hardship, but they have chosen to say that it is not. This company lied to Chase and is also predatory on their practices to people.
I would also like to address their three day cancellation policy. It is just another example of how this company operates their business as very borderline ethical. When I purchased this training program it was told I had to purchase it in the full amount on that day which was a Sunday. The three day cancellation policy expired on Wednesday and the first day to take any of their courses always begin at the earliest on a Friday. This doesn’t allow for anyone to ask for a refund after they have seen how bad their training is until well after the three day return policy period, but it allows them to tell the credit card companies that they had a return policy in place. The only way you would submit the cancellation notice in time would be if you had buyer’s remorse the next day since the cancellation notice must be received to their headquarters in writing by the third day.
Kiyosaki has always been just a sales guy, who is a motivator and not, as he likes to portray as, a teacher.
His mantra "to know more about money, you need to be financially educated" is the equivalent of me saying, "to be a doctor, you need to get a medical degree and study medicine"!
That does not mean I am teaching people how to be doctors!
He is snake oil salesman, that has deluded a lot of people, including myself initially, into thinking he is telling you HOW to get rich, rather than simply saying these are the things you need to do but not telling you how to do them.
If the people going to his seminars or reading his books need either, to tell them that they do not get rich working for others, or that companies can minimise their tax payments more than individuals or that investing in property is a good way to get income from tenants or that running your own company is a good way to get rich or even that $50000 for a few days course is good value, than the people who say he has taught them a lot, and spent a ridiculous sum on "advanced" courses must have been totally ###ed dumb idiots prior to going in!
The sad thing is that their pride does not allow them to admit they have been conned.
I accept that I fell into the trap of thinking this guy must have secret, but his skill is alluding to the fact that he will tell you it soon.
I read 4 of Kiyosakis books, thinking there must be more substance in the next one. There never was. Just the same obvious simple common knowledge that any 21 year old would know.
At least I can see that I wasted my money on the books and watching a number of free seminars on the Rich Dad iphone app, has just confirmed what I thought.
I almost admire Kiyosaki for having being able to brainwash people into thinking he was telling them something they did not already know.
ie. Have any of you noticed that he keeps saying the words "does that make sense to you guys?" evry minute, after the most basic sentence!
When people keep saying yes, it convinces them into thinking that they have just been taught something, when in fact, they have just understood a very basic and obvious statement that was what they knew anyhow.
He is a sales and marketing guru, but certainly not a financial one.
I have nothing against the guy, but I have woken up to the fact that he does not have any great "secrets" but just tells you what to do to get rich, but NOT how to do it.
At least I woke up and have not fallen for the bigger scam and spent thousands on a three day course. Think of the amount of hours private tuition you could get for $50000 from a real estate specialist, you could research in depth before hiring.
It is great illusion he has got away with for 15 years, but anyone vaguely interested in their own finances or basic day to day money, must surely know everything he talks about in his books just from having lived to adulthood!
Enough is enough and it is time his "teachings"were exposed for what they are, a confidence trick!
I spent a little over $16k with the WIA and paid for it with my 1st deal! People often ask me how I buy so many houses and I tell them that I invested in the right knowledge. It paid off for me, I just had to do it!
My experience with Kiyosaki's sales reps has really turned me off from the whole rich dad teaching... My wife and I went for the free workshop they had locally after reading "Rich Dad Poor Dad". We were excited to learn more about real estate, but ended up being sorely disappointed after realizing the whole "workshop" is designed more to get you signed up for their training seminars. Kiyosaki's sales dog's only cared enough about everyone's "financial education" to the point that if you didn't purchase their $199 training in Jan, you weren't worth being treated with any respect or class typical of a more professional crowd. The sales pitch I was given after attempting to leave without purchasing was about as volatile as a door-to-door salesmen - guilt tactics involving my wife, (trying to make me the bad guy because I didn't purchase the program), dividing the cost of the training by the total amount of day's until the seminar to give a cool .27 cent per day offer, the whole sha-bang. In my opinion, read Kiyosaki's books, but don't go to the workshops unless you like being swindled by a jerky sales reps who gets paid commission off how many people he gets signed up for their "3 day training session" & if you like being treated like a second class citizen in the event that you don't get manipulated/forced into purchasing. Sorry Robert, get a better sales team.
I will share my experience here, in hopes that it will help others make an informed decision.
I first heard of the Rich Dad mark/brand from a trusted friend who is now a financial advisor. We were both in college during this time, and my friend said no more than "I've read 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad' and it's a good book." Because I enjoy reading new things and finding new ideas, I read the book. It sounded great, but I also did not read the book as nonfiction, or I should say, when I was done, I didn't have the impression in my mind that it was a nonfiction book.
Some months later, I can't recall how exactly, I saw an ad (I think on the internet, probably just as Facebook ads were starting to gain traction) for a FREE! Rich Dad seminar NEAR YOU! I clicked through and read all the fine print, and yes, it really was free. I committed to attend, and it took place in a rental hall of a local Holiday Inn.
Arriving, my immediate perceptions, or "spider sense" if you will, were that something was off. Most of the people filing in (about 40 I'd say) were dressed casually or less-than-casual (think People of Walmart). I actually wore long pants and a button-down shirt in an attempt to not look like I crawled out of a box. There were about 3 "official" men there, all in 3-piece suits that were WAY over the top. Armani et. al. with pocketwatches, waistcoats, you name it. Diamonds and gold lame everywhere. As I wrote my name on the attendance roster, this (pardon me) Italian mobster-looking guy gazed down at my signature and goes "Lovely, strong handwriting" or something like that. I'm sure he was trying to endear himself but it just creeped me out. Moving on:
Inside the actual room where the presentation was to take place were two folding tables butted up together covered in RDPD materials. Two columns of chairs were arranged, and I sat towards the back. The presenter began (a younger guy himself), and ran us through a bunch of slides to show us how "normal" he "used to be" before he "became free." Then he started showing us all the properties he supposedly had flipped, with pics of and (again, supposed) family members in ratty t-shirts "putting in the work." Finally he showed some pictures of rehabbed homes with "SOLD" signs in the yards, and then him next to a sports car.
After this initial ra-ra speech, he said something like "I know you're all going to be sitting here wondering 'What is he selling?' throughout the presentation. Since I don't want you concentrating on that, and actually want you to benefit from the presentation, I'll just tell you know. We're offering our 3-day training for $795 (or however much - many on here have put 495 and 595)."
Wow! What an honest guy/team. No high-pressure. Just gonna lay it out there right now! And $795?! Who has that kind of money? Glad he told us upfront.
Just wait for it. The presenter proceeded to go over a few easily googleable/wikipedia-able real estate investing terms and went through a quick "memory" game to make people really feel like they were learning. Then, the shocker! "If you had fun learning that, you'll learn about 20 times as much in our 3-day course. It's normally $795, but tonight only we're going to give it away for $495." Typical used-car salesman trick, and I wasn't buying. He then admonished us, "If at ANY point during this presentation you know this training is something you need, feel free to walk back to our representative/Italian mobster in the back."
A few more terms and anecdotes, then a revisitation "You'll also get ALL our basic materials [a bunch of rich dad books, a workbook, and a DVD] for FREE. In stores this would cost over $250." More hard selling and false value added then "real" value removed if you didn't buy.
A few more stories, then "If you buy and pay TONIGHT, you will get to bring ANY guest! Sell the extra spot on eBay to recoup your own cost. Split it with a friend. How can you go wrong folks?"
And now to come to the grand finale. By the time this guy was done, I was THE. ONLY. PERSON. who has not walked back to that table and plopped down a cool $500. Furthermore, the presenter had apparently done some time in Brazil and had learned to speak some Portuguese. I thought I might go ask him about his experiences but no, I got nothing but a stonewall since I hadn't bought into his mind-control. The respect I had been treated with when I arrived was long gone. I left with my "free gift" (a DVD) and sold it on eBay for an extra $10. So hey, for me it did create some wealth!
My account above was factual; now for my own opinions/interpretations: Any enterprise that promises returns greater than the stock market can achieve in less time (by an order of magnitude) is a scam. There Is No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. Anyone who only treats people with respect and dignity while they're selling to them isn't worth doing business with. Any company that doesn't offer a guarantee needs a closer look. Personally I will no longer have anything to do with this mark of this brand. I've been listening to Dave Ramsey and reading other independent columns and books, and I'm doing considerably better than if I'd taken the advice to borrow money at 25% to invest in a market that changes overnight. The end.
Per above, I did end up getting my money back. I guess they got my cancellation in time via mail (as email and fax would not go through even after scouring the internet for this contact info) and they refunded me rather quickly. Granted, I'm sure they screw with many other people. So, buyer beware. I don't know if it's a lawsuit to be sketchy; they are following the policies that are clearly written in their materials. However, those policies are difficult for any reasonable person to abide by, so maybe Utah law (or federal) must change to say such a stringent cancellation policy can't exist.
all of you that were scammed, start a class action lawsuit.. see how quickly you'll bring the giant down.
No one can do it on their own, but with the voices of thousands that have been duped, you will make them buckle and break.
Or apostrophes... and clearly I need a little rest! :)
Please note all the weird signs in my above comment are either commas or quotation marks. Not sure what happened there...
I went to a free session just last Friday, June 5, 2011. They advertised on the radio and during the session talking about how, in the next 1.5 hours, you would learn lots and lots about how to manage and make more money, alluding to such things as starting a business and investing. However, 2.5 hours later, I felt overly pressured to buy the advanced class they were selling at a discounted rate of $199 (regular $995), which included 3 full days of education. I actually did purchase it, after clarifying that I did not learn much of anything this session and asking if I would feel the same after the advanced class. Of course, they said no. Then, I clarified: the speaker seemed to advertise many ways of enhancing wealth, but then everything seemed to hone in specifically on real estate. Was the class going to be only about real estate? Yes, but they claimed the skills were transferable to starting any business. Pretty broad claim, but considering for $199 I would get about 28 hours of learning (including lunch breaks, for which, despite all the company wealth, you must bring your own food... and pay for parking), I thought it was a good deal--especially since I could bring a friend and also get us both lifetime access to some online resource center.
Then I got home and buyer's remorse set in. I sat down and scoured the internet for reviews, coming across both good and bad. Here's my general take: If you know very little about real estate investing and are not likely to go to your neighborhood library to get a book to read on it on your own free time and if you do not have the time to try out a class on real estate at your local community college, the class is likely something that will give you a boost in knowledge you can use. Granted, many people across the nation are in debt and don't know a thing about how to improve their credit scores or do their taxes efficiently. You may improve these skills through this class, according to what I have read. But, if you're like me and are a bit skeptical of any product at the end of a hard-sell session without and satisfaction guarantees, you may want to read reviews across the board. Further, I am the type of person who is likely to read a book on a given subject to improve my knowledge, or better yet, take a full-length class on real estate (perhaps even based on Rich Dad ideologies) for about the same cost at a community college. So, I sent in my cancellation notice, which may open up another box of worms...
Upon signing up, they have you sign your life away, giving you three business days to cancel. But, you get the exact terms only after having signed up, which is sketchy, but still, in my litigious nature, I assumed I was still in good hands. I got home and read the terms, however, and wondered whether or not I would get my money back. Specifically, the terms state that you must mail or deliver the cancellation notice to the company (in Utah) but midnight three business days later. It does not say "postmarked by" three days later. It says "received" by then. Now, unless you're ready to shell out extra cash for expedited shipping, this is difficult to achieve depending upon where you live. Either way, I took my chances and sent my cancellation certified on Monday, hoping it will be received by Wednesday at midnight. I backed up my cancellation by emailing the company as well, although of course that does not qualify under the "mailed or delivered" provision. I also tried to attach a copy of my cancellation notice, but that bounced back as undeliverable. Further, I tried to fax a copy to the number I found on the Utah Better Business Bureau website [protected]), but that never went through; the number was incessantly busy. All in all, the cancellation process in and of itself made me quite skeptical of the company. Granted, you may learn a bit from the class and find the methods to promise a good return on investment, which makes your $199 good money spent if you have it. But, question the honesty of the company itself before you believe just using your local library in combination with a good dose of ambition can't do just the same.
this company is outrageous! i dont understand why they can still operate & none of our agencies have a way to stop them! This is insane!
I DO A GREE WITH THIS POSTING: "Posted: 2009-01-12 by mauiflygirl "
rICH/POOR DAD IS A SCAM AT ITS BEST. THE ONES CLAIMING THAT IT IS NOT, THEY ARE NOTHING BUT GHOST WRITERS FOR THE COMPANY IT'SELF. IN SUCH TROUBLED TIMES, ANYONE PROMISED SOME CHEAP CASH CAN WRITE ANYTHING ABOUT THIS COMPANY. THE BOTTOM LINE, IS THEY ARE A SCAM:... THE ONLY LEGITIMATE THING ASSOCIATED WITH THIS COMPANY IS THE BOOK THAT KIYOSAKE WROTE. AND ALL LEGITIMACY ENDED RIGHT THERE.
HE THEN FIGURED OUT HOW TO USE THE LEGIT FUNDS TO CREATE AN EMPIRE OF SCAM ASSOCIATES BY EXPLOITING LEGAL WEAKNESSES THE SYSTEM(S), HOPING THAT THEY WILL CONTINUOUSLY ENJOY LEGITIMACY "BY ASSOCIATION". MISTAKINGLY ASSOCIATING THE LEGITIMATE BOOK WORK, TO THE BARADE OF SCAM REAL ESTATE INVESTMENTS. THE COROLLARY OF THI IS " HAVING ILLEGITIMATE BUSINESS THEN RE-INVESTING INTO LEGITIMATE BUSINESS LIKE ORGANIZED CRIMINALS DO!
I AM ACTUALLY SURPRISED THAT THE THEIR ASSOCIATE ORGANIZATIONS STILL OPERATE IN COUNTRIES LIKE CANADA, EVEN AFTER THE CTV/CBC BUSTED KIYOSAKE. HOWEVER, WITH THE HARPER GOVERNMENT, I DO NOT SEE THEM SURVIVING IN CANADA FOR THE NEXT 10 MONTHS, I WILL BE SURPRISED. THEY ARE MOST LIKELY TO BE BANNED.
AS PART OF THERE SCAM, THEY ALSO COLLECT THE FIRST HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS THAT THEY MAKE SURE YOU ASK FOR A REFUND BEFORE YOU BUST THEM ON THEIR SECOND SESSION WHERE THEY ARE ALL OUT TO SCAM PEOPLE OF 10S OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS, IT IS TIME TO COORDINATE OUR EFFORTS BEFORE THEY SCAM NEW PEOPLE...YES, YOU HEARD ME RIGHT!
Welcome to the CLUB...We are all in the same boat. I too spent appx. $25K for the course, and my mentor training was disastrous, after paying for a Maryland hotel and
transportation, the hotel did not have any space for us to work (a room, or basic tools to utilize); the computer malfunctioned, but what I cannot understand is why we must provide driving service for the mentor, I don't event have a drivers license, because they indicate "liability" as the reason. My session did not go well for me, and I had hoped to at least get to do one deal, even just going through the motions, including the paper work and assignment process with another investor (leveraging) w/o actually closing. That would have taken the sting of emotional fear, if that were the case. I still have $17K to payoff, but I do not have a job. Social Security Benefits does not cover fixed mortgage, maintenance and other fixed utilities, phone, computer & cell bills. I have joined groups that should help give you information in connecting to buyers, but I am confronted with more money request to buy the "secret" they have to offer us. By the way, how is your software working? I have no funds to pay for it monthly, but I understand other investors are reporting that it does not work efficiently (updated information needed). I just have to chalk it up to what someone else said, it's like paying for college tuition, then you are on your own to make it work. I get more from the internet search, some webinars and to avoid the $2, 000 -$3, 000 coaches who contact me with guarantees. I thought $25K was enough, and until I get to close a deal and money coming in, where I can purchase more tools, I will continue utilizing the groups I have paid to network with and get minimal coaching. Don't give up on your dream; just find another way to move on...
I have just had a very negative experience with the stock investing courses. If their is a law suit, I would like to take part.
I can't believe some people are spending $1, 000's to $24, 000+ on going to "how to" seminars when pretty much all of this info is on the web for free, in books, etc. No one has the "secret" to anything. Everything that is out there or "how to" has been done before. For $24K, you could have paid cash for a Prius, put $2, 000+ in a Roth IRA for each spouse and help fund a child's education. You could get a financial advisor for life that will cost a lot less than $24K. After attending 100's of seminars over 20+ years, I known the high pressure tactics and buy now special offers they put on people. Before departing with large sums of your hard earned money, get a second opinion from someone NOT attending the seminar, or bring a disinterested person (independent advisor, CPA, or attorney) to the program.
Real estate success software?
Reading Rich dad Poor dad, I understood I was already on the right path because of a 2b/1b purchase I do not pay for (tenant is paying). So my girlfriend and I went to the free seminar which was nothing more than a one day sales pitch for a three day intensive Real Estate Investing seminar, which in turn also was an intensive sales pitch for several bundles of Advanced Training Courses ranging from $10, 000 to $70, 000. Along with each bundle comes a mentor and computer software that looks, smell, and tastes like gold. To keep it interesting the mentor/salesman throws at us a few golden nuggets full of great applicable real estate wisdom. And I did learn to open my mind to more creative ways of making money.
I learned quite a lot those three days, though it was pretty much repeating all the info in the "guide to real estate investing" book that was given to us at when we paid for the tree day seminar. I learned because every time something is repeated, it gets engraved in our brains a little deeper.
I told one of the helpers I can make well over $100k a month doing this, so there is no rush in buying any advanced classes that weekend, I don't mind paying almost double the price...it's only one more pre-foreclosure deal I have to do right? They thought I was crazy! Needless to say I did not sign up for any further courses.
As I write, rich dad education calls me to ask for feed back on those three days and ask if I was ready to be helped! How funny they call right when I'm writing about them...! Anyway Does any one have feed back on the wonderful software they offer?
Well said! Wish I could turn back the clock and save over 35K--now paying off credit cards instead of saving for kids college...what a fool I was. They are verrrry smooth. Never even thought to check them out on the internet. I see I'm far from the only one out there. We need to find a way to stop these people. Glad I'm not alone in my suffering, but sorry I'm not the only one---what a mess.
First they advertise themselves to us as Rich Dad Poor Dad, then they move us to Wealth Intelligence Academy, and now they shove us to Tigrent Learning without even sending us an e-mail to advise us of these changes in the contract agreement. Rich Dad is the cruel bait to us poor people who's only fault is the eagerness to learn, to work hard, and earn a decent living. False advertising it is very true- we attended in San Francisco and signed on for classes because they assured us that they have several classes in the area and we have two years to attend them. We found out later that almost all classes require us to fly to Los Angeles everytime- Rich Dad deliberately shrewdly never gave us their class schedules, dates, and places before we signed up. WE NEED TO FILE A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST THESE RUTHLESS CROOKS!
Just as frustrated parents want to buy a solution to their kid's behavior problems with pharmaceuticals for ADD or ADHD this person was looking for a solution to purchase that would solve all of their financial problems. They forgot their BEHAVIOR was the key variable. They have missed the point. Some people just need someone to tell them what to do and when to do it. Folks like that will always work for someone else. Rich Dad Education is very good at marketing and selling their product. If you could just buy financial independence then I would sell it too. I like the odds of that product being a hit. If you risk nothing you gain nothing. You obviously risked more that you could afford to loose and want to blame the person that gave you a model to do something you wanted to do anyway. Shame on you for slandering their product just because you weren't successful. Your free will entered the transaction without thinking about how it could turn out wrong and making safeguards to protect yourself. I have had a very good experience with this education product line. There were no guarantees that I would be successful using the methods they taught, but I have grown and learned a lot by practice. I have gained and lost but net gain is positive because they taught me not to enter a trade if I couldn't afford the loss and the risk tolerance was uncomfortable. People like you get regulatory agencies involved and trample on my freedom to use these products. Someone in Washington in order to protect miscalculating risk it all to get rich quick you is going to prevent me and my cohort who can use this education successfully from being able to purchase from this company. I didn't learn to play guitar the first time I picked it up. It took years of learning. This person couldn't stand that the first time they sat a piano their fingers didn't flawlessly play Beethoven even though a stranger showed them a piano and a recording of Ode to Joy and said, "you have the potential to sound like that, too." Are there any adults anymore?
i have to say i wonder why people do not check for information like this on the internet. i used to be exactly the same until i went for the workshop. i have to tell you though, i have been reading robert kiyosaki books for close to 10yrs now and i jumped in as soon as i heard about the workshop without researching thinking this is my idol, i have been waiting for this all my life! i should mention that i was lucky enough to slpit the $500 cost with a friend but unlucky enough to fall for the SCAM in the first place!it was just before the recession hit and i was really strapped for cash when the seminar came to my town. i attended the seminar twice and it seemed to me staged (bet it was). when finally asked to attend the workshop, they offer to teach you how to make money in real esatate for the cheap amount of $500. seems to good to be true? it sure is. when you attend they tell you to fill out on a form how much you earn and what your financial situation is so thay can keep trying to get money out of you by asking you to attend the wealth academy for about $32, 000 (not sure exactly how much anymore sorry). during the workshop they will also see if you can extend your credit to about $30, 000 so they can see if you can afford to attend the academy. the lessons itself, you can always learn that yourself from getting books at the library!
please, please, people, we all need to reseach whatever it is online before we do anything. we have the internet in this dayand age thank God so lets use it! this was a true learning experience for me. i hope we can inform all other friends about this by word of mouth.
Wow...So far I have heard of attendees of the 3 Day Seminar and how they are disappointed and some walking away satisfied. But, I have yet to hear of anyone who signed up for the advance classes, paid the thousands of dollars and have profitted from thier gained knowledge? Are their people out their that can atest for thier success due to the positives of this Program or Robert Kiyosaki's Education?
PLEASE SHARE. Any Successes? Any profiteer's?
Kiyosaki is not the trainer and you will not see him at the advanced trainings. The problem is the way the trainings are sold with no way of canceling. I canceled and they still tried to take the money out of the bank account, that's fraud, so i had already put a stop on the check so they couldn't take it, which they tried, and I felt like I couldn't trust them, and I couldn't get the rest of the money to pay the 24, 000 the training costed, so that's why I stopped the check and I was right. If I can't trust them then neither can you or anybody else. Why say I can cancel and then still try to take the money. Do not use credit cards to pay, use a check and that way if you can't get the rest of the money to pay for the course then cancel, it's your right. Read the fine print, the contract says you must have the cancellation form in writing in their hands, 3 days after signing in order to cancel. To cancel by fax use phone number
[protected], to cancel real estate software data subscription by equimine which is the company you are subscribing to, the fax number there is [protected] include first and last name and customer ID# which they never told me what it was, to call equimine [protected] to speak to tech support about your account.Equimine main number is [protected]. You have 10 days after signing contract to cancel subscription. To cancel subscription after that just fax them 3 days before you are charged again. None of this information is given to you when you go and sign a contract with Tigrent learning, or wealth academy, or whatever company name they are using year to year. Roving company names are a negative sign something fishy is going on. They try to tell you to use bird dogging which is illegal unless you have a brokers license. They try to tell you to set up an s corp, then surround that with another corp, then surround that with a corp in nevada with the benefactor being a "see last page", and on that last page of the corporation filing papers is a smily face, illegal and very dangerous to your freedom, you will have the feds looking for you all over the world when they find your name in a real estate transaction.Then link you from there through whoever notarized the documents when you filed to form the corporation.This is part of what Tigrent learning 3 day workshop teaches you.Anybody here defending them are just thinking they know so much because they attended a couple of classes is fooling themselves because theres not so much movement of houses and anybody they try to do a deal with, with a "and, or assigns" contract is illegal because when they sign the contract there is a due on sale clause on the original mortgage application and they need to do a double close and that gets complicated as hell and you need a transaction funder to fund the first sale to give money to seller of house and then do the second closing separate with buyer and keep the difference. Try it in a state hit hard with hosuing woes and see where it gets you when the lender won't lend based on a contract with "and or assigns" on it.To get around that you need to pay for them to mentor you at to high a price when there are other cheaper sources of information.Kiyosaki will not be the mentor, one of his "students" will be, no license and illegal broker activity committing "student" for exhorbitant price is ridiculous.Get real and get serious about protecting whatever money you have saved and buy other cheaper same information having courses.Deeptive business practices and illegal activity teaching is what you're in for when dealing with rich dad training.Are you ready to get in a big hole then hope to score a big deal while broke and then maybe having to need a lawyer to defend yourself in court. I think not.Do the three day class and call it a day.I paid 199 for the 3 day and canceled the advanced training before the 3 days were up and they still tried to take 3, 000 from my bank account, but I put a stop on the check so they didn't get a dime.The bank ntified me that they tried to cash the check days after the 3 day period was up even though i canceled after 2 days. If kiyosaki approves of this then he sucks and not worth anything because a scoundrel will always be a scoundrel and if you can't live by your word then what good are you. Here I will upload the contract they present to the workshop students. I scanned it light to appear blank.no one shows ID at the workshops so you really don't know who they are. Also no mention of equimine in contract. Also workshop will be starting on a friday so if you sign up for training on fri then sunday is the last day to cancel, kinda bad because the main office will be closed and won't get your cancellation notice and you're on the hook for all the money.Also the prices are whatever the reps put on the contract, there's no prices in the catalog so they can make up whatever price they want for the advanced trainings.Beware. N wonder kiyosaki is always smiling, he has you by the balls.
As was noted in Rich Dad Poor Dad, real estate used to be easy - but now that too many people had found a slice, and it was time to move onto something else (and this was years ago!)
Oh yeah, and that the next Big Opportunities would be found in selling Information. Looks like he proved that right.
This all sounds like scientology.
My wife and I recently attended the 3 day Learn to be Rich Training in Hasbrouck Heights NJ.
At first we were very impressed by the presentation and the examples or making money in real estate. We were actually excited to move forward and almost got hooked.
First of all we are not so naive to think that we could learn everything about real estate investing in 3 days. We know that it would take a lot of hard work, dedication and instruction. However, we were expecting to come out of 3 ten hour days with enough substantial information to get our feet wet.
Our trainer (salesman) is extremely good at what he does. He tells you stories of his family and how he and others were saved by real estate investing. As a matter of fact it struck us as kind of odd how much time he spent on these stories, sometime 45 minutes to and hour. It's nice you love your mom but after all I'm here to learn about real estate.
And that is where our disappointment, anger and scam factor comes in. The only things we learned is what you could possibly make with real estate (very extreme scenarios in our opinion) and that it would cost upwards of $45 thousand dollars in additional training to achieve that goal.
We actually decided not to go to the third day after realizing that we would not get anything else out of our time investment. My wife had a gut feeling and we started investigating the company and the training a little further which brought us to this forum.
As we looked back there are some key points which help to solidify our decision:
1. We were discouraged from making contacts. Hell, isn't that a good business practice?
2. We were discouraged from listening to the voice inside my head. That voice saved my [censor] plenty of times.
3. We were discouraged from looking up the training on the internet. Obviously.
4. We were told we could not ask questions during class. That's what class is, being taught something and asking questions to insure you have processed the information correctly. Oh sorry, there was no information.
5. The only way to get the training at the special price was to pay in full even if you had to beg and borrow. After all, you will make it back in two months.
6. The realization that the whole credit limit exercise was to accommodate point number 5 above.
7. When asked if all the training would be readily available in our area we did not get a direct answer. We have come to learn of many complaints of people having to incur additional travel expenses to attend training. I know there is the online option but I'm a face to face learner.
8. There's more but this is what really hit home to me. The trainer told us that for everyone who signed up for advanced training, out of the goodness of his heart, he would provide us with a packet of information on how to actually start investing in real estate so we could get our feet wet before advanced training started... WAIT A FREAKIN' MINUTE! ISN'T THAT WHAT I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE LEARNING IN THIS CLASS? ISN'T THAT WHAT I WAS LED TO BELIEVE THAT I WOULD GET OUT OF MY $200 AND 3 DAY INVESTMENT? HOW DARE YOU TELL ME THAT YOU WOULD MAKE GOOD ON THAT PROMISE ONLY IF I PONY UP TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS.
It's very possible that the advanced training is everything they say it is but in my opinion this company did not show good faith. They led everyone to believe that we would learn something substantial and usable. Instead we were sold a bill of goods. Had they delivered and I was able to put some good, solid fundamentals into practice I would have certainly considered investing in more of their training. However, we got none of that.
Like I said before, I realize that it will take a lot of education to understand real estate investment. That point is very sound advice.
My wife and I will get more education, we will find a mentor, we will do our best to be successful in real estate investing...
Just not with Rich Dad.
I'm just another victim with nothing new to say except to validate all of the above. Tigrent as a company is truly ridiculous. Unethical, improper and misleading sales practices. You can't talk to anyone about your issues, you send a letter and they write back 2 weeks later and don't answer your questions. I wonder if any American News Shows have researched this compan...60 minutes, etc.
FYI - If you DO sign up for their "Advanced training" courses, they're NOT worth it. You can get good real estate education often at your local REIA or from various other CHEAPER sources through the internet. Be careful of "gurus" anyway.
I don't know about his experience but I took the WIA stock classes and even though they were expensive I learned a bunch about something I was pretty ignorant about. I was able to earn back my class investment in about six months of option trading and have been matching my regular work income every year since. I haven't quit work because I enjoy my profession. I expect to continue trading the rest of my life and feel I learned something really valuable.
If you were unhappy with Russ Whitney, Wealth Inteligence Academy, Tigrent learning, or Robert Kiosaki's services and feel that you were deceived I like I was, please contact me at russwhitneyscam@yahoo.com. They used every tactic possible to convince me to purchase their product. They are not very upfront and honest. That's a huge problem. Furthermore, their 3 day cancellation policy is a joke. So, please contact me. I can help.
Education is essential for preparation in any field:business professional, medical, trades, etc. Networking is essential to building a successful business, including real estate investing. So overall, WIA can provide the two elements here. Without any RE investment education and/or a like-minded network of folks, the "system" can be quite difficult to navigate successfully, especially if you are not a hands-on type.
I have been investing in multi-family (3 and 4 units) since 1986 and had come to the conclusion two years ago that I needed to find new strategies to diversify and build faster passive income flow via creative financing, private money, etc. My wife and I purchased a 4 class package from WIA and, like many posts here, find that the classes leave the student wondering, "Yeah, but HOW DO I DO THIS?". Also, I agree that the cost for these classes are high, but then again so are college credits (I teach post-secondary).
Therefore, we feel that the overall WIA system closely simulates most 4-year post-secondary educations: lots of cash outlay for mediocre information that, usually, has little to do with real world practices ( remember, I teach post-secondary). In the end, you motivate yourself to succeed so you can pay back your student loans. This, also, seems to be the case with WIA.
On the other hand, there is a tremendous opportunity to network with a variety of RE investors. In doing so, my wife and I have greatly improved our portfolio through much needed contacts with private lenders, project and property managers, and other "team members" . Therefore, attending the WIA classes has produced a wealth of "usable" information.
In conclusion, if you are a "go it alone" type who believes RE investing can be hacked through on the cheap, well then the WIA is definitely not for you. On the other hand, if you are sick and tired of cashing out your savings account to buy dinky little investments (a revolving door system where it takes DECADES to get anywhere . . .I know), then educate yourself by any means possible, and learn to network with others.
NOTE: Although REIAs are a great place to network, beware of predators. We have joined a few REIAs and found that it is a mix of: 50% know-nothing novices, 40% "services" (mostly big-talkers offering promises never realized), 10% networkable folks worthy of your attention.
Good luck, and have fun!
I think everyone else has summed this up but you are constantly blaming others for your situation, I dont see you financially free. I took the course and am now almost approaching my first million.
I think if you stopped having such a negative attitude and stopped trying to find fault in everything it would be to your benefit.
I would also suggest you read some books about mindset, and then reconsider your situation and actions. I hope you achieve the best that life can offer you, but the first step is being open to opportunities and not finding the dark cloud on every silver lining!
You know I disagree with everything written. Education is what you make of it. I have taken 9 of the trainings and am extremely successfull at the strategies mentioned in the 3 day training. You have to work the business like anything. You can't go to school to become a doctor and expect a large practice unless you have worked at maintaining your clients' confidence. It is the same thing! Get off left side thinking and learn the the biz to work for you.
I went through the same events as alot of people.The free seminar, followed by the 500 dollar 3-day. Then i got caught up in the moment. I did thus in the Feb 2009 and the economy was tumbling . I was really interested in learning Robert's secrets.So, like a dope I signed up with my mother, who is also looking to find a way to financial freedom.We took the 4-course with a mentor for the 26K. Went to a foreclosure class in March 09. Then could not schedule the next class because the one I wanted was not near New York City. Still had hope, but the economy, as we all know, is nothing like a year ago. All I wanted was to get the mentor program off my back and save 9K, since I am not going to use it and could use some relief. Tigrent Learning, where and when they came in I have no idea, Student resolution center was no help. Not only do you have to leave voicemails and wait for replies, but when you get the call they hold the 3-day cancellation policy over your head.But I only want a refund for services not rendered, mentors. You will then get an intern speaking to you like a child about how it's all about your education and there was a 3-day cancel policy.However, when I asked to only be reimbursed for the mentors i will not be able to use or afford, I was surprised to find out from Amanda Sachs that they are in the office everyday just waiting for dolts like me, so it does cost the company.The reality is we are all adults, but I have run a small constuction company for 15 years and service I prepaid for But will Not use, should be a non-issue.The most troubling though is the complete lack of actual concern to resolve anything legit, because all this amanda would go back to was the 3-day cancel policy-nah nah-nah nah. It was juvenile and frustrating. What happened to Lee escobars "real estate is about people, not money"
Even Robert Kiyosoki doesn't like Whitney information network/Tigrent
http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2010/road_to_rich_dad/main.html
Busted!
Also see two class action suits pending against Tigrent and Whit ney
Suit complaint copies:
1. http://www.archive.org/details/3-07Musuit
2. http://www.archive.org/details/NorthPortSuit
cvb n
A good friend of ours signed up for the $500 course and invited my partner to join him as his "free guest" this weekend. The first thing we wondered was why the Rich Dad and/or Tigrant organization just charge $250 per person. Our guess is that they probably wouldn't be able to get as many participants. By charging $500 per couple/pair however they've doubled their potential market.
Yes, "market". Tigrant now have a group of people to whom then can market and SELL their products to.
I was appalled to learn that most of Saturday afternoon (day 2) was a lengthy sales pitch encouraging the students to invest in their learning under the auspicious that their spouses and children will benefit somehow. How so when the full package is in the region of $90, 000 BUT, they made an exclusive and seemingly generous offer that, if you sign up this weekend, you can have it all for half price. Yes, that's right ! Only $45, 000 CDN.
Sorry, but wouldn't $45k be better spent as a deposit on buying a small property?
We worked out that, after a show of hands of those wanting to invest in their education to become rich, and if each of them followed through this morning and paid $45k each, Tigrant would walk away with approximate 3 million dollars! Not bad for a weekend's work. It's no wonder that the main lesson they teach is to always use other people's money when investing in property and, it's clear that the facilitators and the organization are doing exactly that. They could have 3 million bucks of other people's money to play with.
I'm fairly certain the $500 fees for the weekend has nicely covered the cost of the hotel room, the expenses and the flights for the 4 or 5 facilitators. From the comments I've read above, and after watching the on-line version of the CBC's Marketplace program aired on January 29, 2010, I'm amazed that people are still putting their hands in their pockets.
I would urge anyone who is considering buying the Rich Dad / Tigrant course, but is genuinely interested in property investment to first watch the above program. Secondly, they should visit the Real Estate Institute of Canada's website at http://www.reic.ca/en/education-schedule.cfm. The REIC publish a full course catalog and and an up-to-date list of legitimate 3 - 5 day courses which range in price from $430 to $1320. More importantly, completing a combination of these REIC courses and passing a final exam, leads to a nationally recognized accreditation in Real Estate.
It seems the only education one might take away from a Rich Dad / Tigrant seminar is that a fool and his money are easily parted!
I am presently attending the three day $500 seminar (in Canada), and was not surprised at the pitch they have been selling. About 50% of the information that they pass to us is based on having to get better educated about investing, etc. All good information. What they have been supplying in the course comes very fast, and is impossible to write down, and forget about remembering what has been said, it just comes too fast. I have to admit that I have learned much that I did not know, and the info is probably worth the $500.
I actually looked into the training manual supplied, although our instructor said NOT to as he would not be following the sequence of the manual too closely. What he really meant, I think, was if I followed the manual, I would discover that there is very little information in it that is useful! I am glad that I did manage to take 27 pages of notes in the first 2 days.
One thing that really rang alarm bells for me was the constant disclaimer that kept coming on the screen saying that they did not teach 'illegal or unethical practices' (or some similar language), but that it is important to discuss anything you do with a professional to make sure that you are following the law. Then they state that Real Estate agents, Lawyers and Accountants who are successful and have been in the business for years will tell you that what you may be trying to do is illegal. They tell you to think 'outside the box", something I have done my entire life and it has always benefited me. However, I can't see myself following many of their practices as to me, they just seem to close to unethical. I want to be able to sleep at night.
I will not be buying into the program as I don't have the slick salesman style to me, and this is something that you NEED to be able to succeed using these methods. I am sure that those that are highly confident, smooth and eloquent talkers (don't forget FAST) will do well and can make a fortune by following these methods. For the 99.9% of us that aren't, we won't be anywhere as successful. It's not as much an investor course as a selling course. You need to SELL yourself to whoever you are trying to purchase the property from, using Tigrent's methods, and if you aren't a slick salesman, I don't feel that these methods will work very well.
I may get into the business doing re-habs, but the other methods hit me as unethical and borderline illegal. Recent articles in the papers in Canada have mentioned that the government is concerned about the realestate investor business and is looking into these practices. Our instructor was asked about this yesterday. He stated that he hadn't heard anything about this and would check into it and let us know today what he found out. I'll be interested to see if this actually happens.
One thing that struck me during the course so far is that as we were ALL asked to turn off our cell phones, I found it interesting that his kept vibrating and he'd look at it. Then he'd come out with "My partner just got the three properties that we had been looking at" or some such comment. I am sure that this was more a demonstration as to how wonderful the training works than actual fact. It must have happened two or three times over the first two days.
I guess what I am trying to say is that if you are not the slick, pushy, extremely fast thinker, overly confident, don't let anything get in your way personality, then using these tactics and courses will get you nowhere. Although I would love to be able to implement them in my life, I am realistic. I'm not the type to be able to pull it off, but I did get a lot of interesting info from the course. At least I now know what (and who) to look out for, and what (who) not to.
Rich Dad Education
I am so glad that we did not take the plunge into this scam. We just completed the 3-day Rich Dad seminar. While we did walk away with some information, it was not more than we could have learned in an hour. Here's what we got:
Day 1: Basically an introduction and overview of the speaker, Alan Swails, who told us details about his life, family and how he got "rich", and things that his wealth allows him to be able to do for himself and his family. By the time that was over, it was time for lunch. So, from 9:00 AM - 1:30 PM, that is all we got. I thought he was just trying to get us in the right mind set to receive all of this information we were supposed to be learning over the weekend, but we would soon see it was a tactic to just wear us down.
Throughout the day, he kept mentioning all of the wonderful bonus information we would get on day 2 and day 3. Of course, in our minds, we were more interested in seeing all we could absorb on the first day. We started to hear sprinkles of information about the Advanced Training courses at this point. We spent about an hours playing "Cashflow 101: How to Get Out of the Rat Race" game. This was supposed to help us practice our skills in investing, finding the right deal and getting out of the "Rat Race" by becoming debt free.
At the end of the day, we were given a homework assignment to call our credit card companies to make sure that our credit limits hadn't been lowered due to lack of use or spending well below our limits, and to lower interest rates. We were also given a script to do this. Soon we would learn why a higher credit card limit was so important.
Day 2: We pretty much spent the first two hours rehashing what we did the day before, and began to hear more and more about what the advanced training could do for us. After lunch, we then went into the Advanced Training information and what it would cost. At that point, after we picked our jaws off the table, we quickly realized we had been duped, and that the $495 3-day seminar was no more than high-powered sales pitch to get us to spend 10K-70K dollars on these advanced courses. All we could think was, "ARE THEY OUT OF THEIR COTTON PICKING MINDS?"
Mr. Swails continued on by saying that what was spent on "getting the knowledge" was just a drop in the bucket compared to what we would be able to do with that knowledge once we attained it. The problem is, we were supposed to be getting the knowledge for the $495. He also said that he was sure that many of us would not return the following day because of fear. I felt he became a bit condescending to those who seemed a little disgruntled at the fact that they'd been had. This guy was good! I mean tears and all when discussing his family and what wealth was able to do for them. He made everything very enticing. We were given a meaningless homework assignment and dismissed for the day.
Day 3: Begrudgingly, we returned for the final day in hopes that there was possibly something that could be learned from this experience. I must say that I remained unsatisfied, and very disappointed at the outcome. As the day went on, I became empathetic towards those who chose to throw those thousands of dollars away on an education that could be gotten at a fraction of the cost. I am sure many of them are feeling buyer's remorse by now.
While I did not get what I had anticipated out of the seminar, I can't say that I am disappoint that I spent $495 for this lesson. It certainly has opened my eyes to how well these scammers play on the heart-strings of the weak-minded, or those who feel like anything that is worth having comes without hard work and time. If there is one person that becomes debt free and is able to quit his job after one year, as promised, than good for them. However, if that happens, I highly doubt it will have anything to do with what they will be learning (or not) with the advanced training for which they paid.
As the saying goes, "there is a sucker born every second"! You must know the difference between advanced educational courses and advanced 'sales/promo" courses. The challenge for Robert Kiyosaki in the future will be to see How can he move away from only Real Estate and have more focus on entrepreneurial or business education. I'm assuming that nobody with this group is very formally educated, so I'm expecting that there will be a lot of sales and marketing spin with the objective of getting your money.
The best idea that I learned from Robert Kiyosaki is you need to know where the money is flowing between the buyer and the seller. In the case of selling'advanced courses' the money flow is from your pocket to the pockets of course presenters. And, you need to have money flowing into your pocket to be richer, so that if it isn't then your on the wrong side of the money street.
By the way, I will have a book coming our hopefully this year about Seniors (50 Plus) empowered to become entrepreneurs and have the opportunity to Build a Legacy. Originally, I wanted to title the book Rich Senior/Poor Senior however; my book will be non-fiction and this will not be the title.
Joe Wasylyk
Seniorpreneur
I can agree that I did sign up for an agreement to training, then I left and started looking into it, trying to make sense of it, etc. I eventually spoke to an old friend who also wasted $30K on their training:
Long story short is I know many people who ALL claim that WIA offered poor training, and also incorrect or illegal advice - which can only come from people who have been trained to be "Trainers" and NOT experienced Real Estate Investors.
They are full of false hope and scam, obert Kiyosaki only endorses their training with his name: He is not the creator or designer of it. That's how we are all fooled.
CBC's consumer TV show Marketplace is doing a story about Whitney's Rich Dad seminars on Friday Jan 29. The video is here: http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2010/road_to_rich_dad/main.html
I agree with the compliant.
But not for the reasons you think, If you have read any of the rich dad poor dad books - he explicitly says "good debt is debt that pays for it's self"... To ask people to pay on credit for information is wrong. Information "good or bad" does not pay for itself, it rellies on you using that info to a succesful means - which 1- can not be garrauntteed 2-depends on person, situation and time 3-if the correct info is not given as promised is misleading and bad.
I agree with the comments about the books being good yet vague, I gree with learning and finding local mentors and most of all - if anyone is pressuring you to raise your credit and then ask you to pay upfront for a short not credited school course - - run...
I have read many books and they always offer one or two good tips that I could use, weather it is outdated or new - I use them. But why would I pay so much for a mentor who wont show me thier books or bank account [ like robert says - you need some one who is succesful at doing what they teach ].
I started writing a blog [ Money-and-kids.blogspot.com ] it's for parents who really need to change the way they think and teach thier children about money - even though I make mention of books I've read and things I've personally done - but I always offer this advice: check your local government laws and rules and find someone local that is succesful at what you want to do.