Why We Want You to Be Rich: Two Men, One Message is a non-fiction book about personal finance, co-authored by Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki.
Trump and Kiyosaki criticize mutual funds and advocate real estate investing as a way to build wealth.
[3] The Intercept called multi-level marketing a form of pyramid scheme and lamented the authors' recommendation of the tactic.
The book warns the reader that the American middle class strata is shrinking due to multiple factors including oncoming retirement of the baby boomers, rising costs of light crude oil, decreasing employer pay to employees, increasing national debt of the United States, and a declining power of the United States dollar.
The authors caution that individuals should not rely on the federal bureaucracy for support from problems including the middle-class squeeze, economic globalization, and threats of terrorism.
[1][2][3] Trump and Kiyosaki advise that these problems create opportunity for investors in the form of a future social class in the United States with only two tiers.
Trump recounts a story about a friend who would always fly in first class no matter his financial straits, "he needed it mentally.
"[1][2][3] Why We Want You to Be Rich imparts personal finance advice to the reader from Trump's real estate background and Kiyosaki's investing experiences.
The book educates the reader about the "Cashflow Quadrant" theory, classifying individuals into categories of investor, self-employed, business owner, or employee.
"[1][2][3] Kiyosaki advocates financial literacy, and Trump cites historical case studies from his real estate career.
"[9] Trump and Kiyosaki published the book as a private business venture together, forming a new company as a partnership called Rich Press.
[18] An audiobook format was released in 2006, with narrators John Dossett and Skipp Sudduth, published by Simon & Schuster Audio, with a runtime of 5 hours and 34 minutes.
[43] Publishers Weekly wrote a book review for Why We Want You to be Rich, commenting, "if it's not exactly Kierkegaardian in scope or language, this collaboration of real estate magnate and rags-to-riches financial guru manages to entertain and to inform.
"[3] The review noted, "They sell positive thinking and can-do haziness – specific details cost extra.
"[3] The Intercept wrote critically of the book's advice, including the recommendation by Trump and Kiyosaki to invest in multi-level marketing companies, asserting instead that these are harmful pyramid schemes.
"[8] The paper marveled at the reaction among consumers, "Fans responded to this kind of contradiction by praising both the authors' earlier financial success and their shrewdness in taking advantage of the new opportunity to sell.