Robert Kiyosaki, the author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, has spent decades challenging conventional thinking about money, investing, and financial education. Beyond his own writing, Kiyosaki is known for recommending books that shaped his worldview and reinforced his belief that traditional education fails to prepare people for real financial success.
The books on this list reflect Kiyosaki’s core philosophy that understanding money, influence, and economic systems is essential for building wealth. From classic economic theory to modern critiques of the financial system, these are the titles he has praised most often in interviews and on social media.
1. The Only Game in Town by Mohamed El-Erian
Kiyosaki has been outspoken in his praise for Mohamed El-Erian’s The Only Game in Town. He has endorsed the book’s central thesis that the global economy is approaching an economic T-junction, as El-Erian describes it. At this critical turning point, the world must go one way or another with no middle ground.
El-Erian, a respected economist and former CEO of PIMCO, argues that central banks have been carrying the global economy on their shoulders for far too long. The book warns that this dependence on monetary policy will eventually force a reckoning. For Kiyosaki, this aligns perfectly with his long-held concerns about fiat currency, Federal Reserve policy, and the financial crisis he sees as inevitable.
2. Makers and Takers by Rana Foroohar
Kiyosaki has praised Makers and Takers and used it to reinforce one of his most persistent arguments. He has stated that business schools teach market manipulation rather than actual business-building, and Foroohar’s research supports that critique in detail.
Rana Foroohar’s book examines how the financial sector has shifted from supporting the real economy to extracting wealth from it. She traces how Wall Street moved away from funding innovation and productive enterprise toward complex financial engineering that benefits insiders at the expense of ordinary workers and entrepreneurs.
Kiyosaki sees this as a perfect example of why he urges people to seek financial education outside the traditional classroom.
3. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
Think and Grow Rich is one of the most frequently cited books in Kiyosaki’s recommendations. Initially published in 1937, Napoleon Hill’s classic distills lessons from twenty years of studying the most successful people of his era, including Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, and Thomas Edison.
The book focuses on the mental habits and psychological principles behind wealth creation. Hill emphasizes the power of desire, faith, autosuggestion, and persistence as the driving forces behind financial achievement. For Kiyosaki, Think and Grow Rich validates his belief that mindset and financial intelligence matter far more than formal credentials or a steady paycheck.
4. The Law of Success by Napoleon Hill
Kiyosaki has also recommended The Law of Success, Napoleon Hill’s earlier and more comprehensive work that preceded Think and Grow Rich. Initially published in 1928, it covers sixteen principles Hill identified as essential to personal and financial achievement.
The Law of Success goes deeper than Think and Grow Rich into topics like organized planning, the master mind alliance, self-confidence, and the habit of saving.
Kiyosaki values this work because it provides a broader framework for understanding how successful people think and operate. It reinforces his teaching that wealth is built through deliberate study and strategic action rather than through a job or a pension.
5. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini
Robert Cialdini’s Influence is another book Kiyosaki has highlighted in interviews and on social media. Cialdini, a psychologist and professor, identifies six key principles of persuasion that drive human decision-making: reciprocity, commitment and consistency, social proof, authority, liking, and scarcity.
For Kiyosaki, understanding influence is inseparable from understanding business and investing. Knowing how people are persuaded helps entrepreneurs sell effectively, negotiate better deals, and recognize when they are being manipulated. Kiyosaki views this kind of psychological awareness as a form of financial self-defense that traditional schools do not teach.
6. Zero to One by Peter Thiel
Peter Thiel’s Zero to One resonates strongly with Kiyosaki’s entrepreneurial philosophy. Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal and an early investor in Facebook, argues that the most valuable businesses create something entirely new rather than copying what already exists. Going from zero to one means building something the world has never seen before.
Kiyosaki has recommended this book because it challenges the conventional path of competing within established industries. Thiel’s emphasis on monopoly thinking, contrarian ideas, and visionary entrepreneurship aligns with Kiyosaki’s message that true wealth comes from creating assets and solving problems in ways that set you apart from the crowd.
7. The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith
Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations, published in 1776, is considered one of the foundational texts of modern economics. Kiyosaki has called this book essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how economies actually function at a fundamental level.
Smith introduced concepts like the division of labor, free markets, and the invisible hand that guides economic activity. For Kiyosaki, reading Smith provides the historical and intellectual context that most financial education lacks.
Understanding the principles of capitalism offers investors and entrepreneurs a foundation for evaluating modern economic policies and the forces that drive wealth creation and destruction.
8. The Story of Philosophy by Will Durant
Kiyosaki’s recommendation of Will Durant’s The Story of Philosophy reveals a side of his thinking that goes beyond dollars and deals. Durant’s book surveys the lives and ideas of history’s greatest philosophers, from Plato and Aristotle to Nietzsche and William James, making complex concepts accessible to general readers.
For Kiyosaki, philosophy is not separate from financial success. Understanding how great thinkers approached problems, questioned assumptions, and developed frameworks for understanding the world builds the kind of critical thinking that serves investors and entrepreneurs well.
Kiyosaki has long argued that the ability to think independently is the most valuable asset anyone can develop, and Durant’s work provides a rich education in exactly that skill.
Conclusion
Robert Kiyosaki’s reading list reveals a consistent theme across every recommendation. Each book challenges conventional thinking, exposes flaws in mainstream institutions, and provides tools for independent thought. Whether it is Napoleon Hill’s principles of mindset, Adam Smith’s economic foundations, or Rana Foroohar’s critique of modern finance, these titles all point to the same lesson.
Financial education is not something that happens in a classroom. It happens through deliberate, self-directed study of the ideas that drive wealth and power in the real world. For anyone looking to think more like Kiyosaki, these eight books offer a strong starting point for building that foundation.