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The people who shape financial decisions aren’t always investors—they’re often the teachers, mentors and advisers whose ideas take root long before someone ever buys their first asset.
“Rich Dad Poor Dad” author Robert Kiyosaki says that’s why choosing the right teachers may be one of the most important financial decisions a person can make.
“Most school teachers, they’re good people, you know, they mean well,” Kiyosaki said on the “School of Hard Knocks” podcast in 2025. “They’re employees. They need job security. They need a pension.
“And that’s going to affect your brain because that’s who they are spiritually. They’re cowards. No, not really,” he continued. “But choose your teachers wisely.”
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It Was Never About Skipping School
The comments came after host James Dumoulin asked whether Kiyosaki really believed people should avoid school or college, referencing the title of his first book, “If You Want to Be Rich and Happy, Don’t Go to School.”
“What I was saying, you’ve got to choose your teachers,” he said.
Kiyosaki said that students often don’t know enough to evaluate who’s teaching them, so they naturally absorb the worldview of the people in front of them. In his view, someone whose career revolves around job security and a pension may approach money differently than an entrepreneur or investor whose livelihood depends on spotting opportunities and taking calculated risks.
Kiyosaki illustrated the point with a story from Sunday school, recalling how a teacher asked why the three wise men were considered wise. His answer: because one of them brought gold. The lesson stayed with him and eventually led him to seek mentors who thought differently about money—a philosophy that later became the foundation of “Rich Dad Poor Dad.”
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Who You Learn From Matters
That philosophy has shaped Kiyosaki’s investing strategy for decades.
Kiyosaki has long encouraged people to own cash-flowing assets such as real estate, while also advocating for gold and, more recently, Bitcoin. The common thread isn’t any single investment—it’s learning from people who have built wealth rather than simply studied it.
To him, financial education isn’t just about understanding markets. It’s about understanding the perspective of the person offering the advice.
Looking Where Others Aren’t
That mindset also influences the kinds of businesses Kiyosaki believes are worth paying attention to. Throughout his career, he’s encouraged people to look beyond conventional investments, often discussing assets long before they entered the mainstream.
Today, that same philosophy is drawing some investors toward emerging technologies. Miso Robotics, for example, is giving everyday investors the opportunity to back a company developing AI-powered kitchen automation designed to help restaurants improve efficiency and address labor shortages.
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The company’s Flippy robot has been piloted in chains like White Castle, and Miso has partnered with Nvidia to bring more advanced AI capabilities into its kitchen automation systems. It’s the kind of business that aims to solve a real-world problem through innovation. Today, Miso is giving everyday investors the opportunity to back that growth directly.
Kiyosaki has never suggested investing blindly, though, and no early-stage company is guaranteed to succeed. His message has consistently been to study opportunities independently, challenge conventional thinking and understand the ideas behind an investment before committing capital.
Whether the opportunity is real estate, Bitcoin or an emerging company like Miso Robotics, Kiyosaki’s advice comes back to the same principle— choose teachers who expand the way you think, then do the homework to decide which opportunities deserve your conviction.
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Building Wealth Across More Than Just the Market
Building a resilient portfolio means thinking beyond a single asset or market trend. Economic cycles shift, sectors rise and fall, and no one investment performs well in every environment. That’s why many investors look to diversify with platforms that provide access to real estate, fixed-income opportunities, precious metals, and even self-directed retirement accounts. By spreading exposure across multiple asset classes, it becomes easier to manage risk, capture steady returns, and create long-term wealth that isn’t tied to the fortunes of just one company or industry.
Arrived
Backed by Jeff Bezos, Arrived Homes makes real estate investing accessible with a low barrier to entry. Investors canbuy fractional shares of single-family rentals and vacation homes starting with as little as $100. This allows everyday investors to diversify into real estate, collect rental income, and build long-term wealth without needing to manage properties directly.
Realberry
Institutional-quality real estate has traditionally been difficult for individual investors to access.Realberry gives accredited investors direct access to private real estate opportunities backed by a team with 35 years of experience, $3.4 billion in assets under management, and $481 million in cumulative distributions paid to investors as of Q4 2025, according to the company. With a portfolio spanning 13 million square feet across seven U.S. states, Realberry focuses on acquiring, developing, and managing real estate with an emphasis on long-term value creation while its principals often invest alongside clients to help align interests.
FarmTogether
Farmland has historically held its value through market volatility and delivered returns uncorrelated to stocks and bonds. For accredited investors,FarmTogether offers direct access to high-quality U.S. farmland starting at $15,000 — fully managed, with no landlord headaches.
Immersed
Immersed is building technology for the future of work through spatial computing. Known for its AR/VR productivity platform that enables users to work across multiple virtual screens, the company has grown to more than 1.5 million users worldwide. Immersed is also developing Visor, a lightweight headset designed specifically for professional productivity, positioning the company at the intersection of remote work, extended reality (XR), and next-generation computing.
Fundrise
Private real estate and private credit can add income and stability to a stock-heavy portfolio.Fundrise offers access to diversified private real estate and credit strategies through an easy-to-use platform, with professionally managed portfolios designed to generate passive income and long-term growth.
Mode Mobile
Mode Mobile is changing the way people interact with their phones by letting users earn money from the same apps and activities they already use every day. Instead of platforms keeping all the advertising revenue, Mode Mobile shares a portion back with users who engage with content, play games, and scroll on their devices. Named one of Deloitte’s fastest-growing software companies in North America, the company has built a large beta user base and is scaling a model that turns everyday smartphone usage into a potential income stream.
EquityMultiple
For accredited investors looking beyond stocks and bonds, EquityMultiple provides access to vetted commercial real estate deals starting at $5,000, with only ~5% of opportunities passing their due diligence process.
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This article ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad’ Author Robert Kiyosaki Says ‘Most School Teachers Are Good People’ but They Need Job Security — ‘And That’s Going to Affect Your Brain’ originally appeared on Benzinga.com
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