--- title: Robert Kiyosaki’s Real Definition of Wealth — and How to Reach It Faster description: Robert Kiyosaki, author of the popular book "Rich Dad Poor Dad," says the definition of wealth is tied to financial freedom. authors: - name: Marc Guberti url: https://money.com/author/marc-guberti/ bio: Marc Guberti is a personal finance writer who hosts Breakthrough Success, a podcast where he teaches listeners how to grow their businesses and achieve personal transformations. at_money_since: 2024 articles: 437 covers: - Personal Finance - Banking - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes published: '2026-05-23T17:00:20.000Z' modified: '2026-05-23T18:00:31.000Z' section: Personal Finance word_count: 543 canonical: https://money.com/robert-kiyosaki-definition-of-wealth/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Robert Kiyosaki in a pin stripe suit in a television studio](https://img.money.com/2026/01/Explainer-Robert-Kiyosaki-Definition.jpg) Robert Kiyosaki, author of the popular personal finance book "Rich Dad Poor Dad," believes that your net worth isn’t a sufficient measurement of your wealth. Instead, he argues it’s better to assess your finances based on how long you can live without working. In other words, financial freedom. Cash flow, he says, is key. Here’s how you can use Kiyosaki’s mentality to allocate your money toward the right assets and reach your retirement goals. ## Different definition of wealth A $1 million nest egg may be enough for one person to retire, and not nearly enough for the next. Kiyosaki’s philosophy involves wealth coming down to having the freedom to choose how you spend your time. Your lifestyle can help determine how much cash flow you need. ***Gold Investor Kit Offer: [Sign up with American Hartford Gold today and get a free investor kit, plus receive up to $20,000 in free silver on qualifying purchases](https://money.com/pr/u3ef79664b8e)*** ## Focusing on cash flow Kiyosaki encourages people to focus on passive income. While savings will help, passive income — which can be generated with investments such as dividend stocks, rental properties and bonds — is money earned without a ton of effort on your part. That’s very different from the income you earn from a job. However, passive income isn’t just tied to investments. You can build a business that sells online products and services that requires little time on your end once it's are set up. The cash flow you generate from these activities will give you more financial flexibility later down the road. You will have to gradually deplete your savings when you retire. However, the fear of depleting your nest egg completely can be mitigated if your cash flow exceeds your living expenses. ***Pet Protection: [See How Spot Pet Insurance Can Help Your Dog or Cat](https://money.com/pr/m999af985bb0?data-trk-company=spot-pet-insurance-review&data-trk-imp=true&data-trk-pcu-type=direct_link&data-trk-pcu-uuid=m999af985bb0&encoded_id=)*** ## Why traditional retirement planning can fall short The retirement industry is full of personal finance rules of thumb to help people make the most of their money, but often, these rules can fall short. For example, more experts are saying that the 4% rule, which assumes retirees can safely withdraw 4% of their retirement portfolio their first year then increase that based on inflation, may no longer work. The best retirement savings and withdrawal plan for you will depend on your specific situation, goals, time horizon and risk tolerance. But increasing your cash flow will likely help. Dividend-paying companies regularly hike their dividends, for instance, which can help you keep up your costs of living. ***Extra Money: [Get up to $1,000 in stock when you fund a new active SoFi invest account](https://money.com/pr/x00f9061e638)*** ## Practical application for retirees Stashing away cash and hoping it will be enough for your long-term goals probably won’t be as effective as you need, since inflation pushes prices higher over time. Your purchasing power will gradually decrease. But you can protect yourself from inflation by investing in assets that keep up with inflation, generate income and increase in value over time. If you’re considering buying dividend stocks and bonds, you don’t have to analyze the market for individual assets. Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) make it easy to get exposure to a diversified basket of stocks and bonds, as well as other assets like real estate investment trusts (REITs). ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/robert-kiyosaki-definition-of-wealth/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Personal Finance", "item": "https://money.com/personal-finance/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Robert Kiyosaki’s Real Definition of Wealth — and How to Reach It Faster" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/robert-kiyosaki-definition-of-wealth/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/robert-kiyosaki-definition-of-wealth/", "name": "Robert Kiyosaki’s Real Definition of Wealth — and How to Reach It Faster", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2026-05-23T17:00:20.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/robert-kiyosaki-definition-of-wealth/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/robert-kiyosaki-definition-of-wealth/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2026-05-23T18:00:31.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "Robert Kiyosaki’s Real Definition of Wealth — and How to Reach It Faster", "articleSection": "Personal Finance", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2026/01/Explainer-Robert-Kiyosaki-Definition.jpg", "width": 1024, "height": 683, "caption": "Explainer-Robert-Kiyosaki-Definition" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marc Guberti", "url": "https://money.com/author/marc-guberti/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/marc-guberti/#author", "description": "Marc Guberti is a personal finance writer who hosts Breakthrough Success, a podcast where he teaches listeners how to grow their businesses and achieve personal transformations.", "worksFor": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2026-05-23T17:00:20.000Z", "description": "Robert Kiyosaki, author of the popular book \"Rich Dad Poor Dad,\" says the definition of wealth is tied to financial freedom.", "abstract": "Robert Kiyosaki, author of the popular book \"Rich Dad Poor Dad,\" says the definition of wealth is tied to financial freedom.", "@id": "https://money.com/robert-kiyosaki-definition-of-wealth/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2026-05-23T18:00:31.000Z", "wordCount": 543, "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Personal finance", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_finance" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Wealth", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth" ] } ] } ] } ```