News: Dan Brown to be Catholic Cardinal

Yahoo! Finance just did something really dumb. They hired Robert T. Kiyosaki, author of the best-selling Rich Dad, Poor Dad as a columnist for their new foray into editorial content. The only problem is that Kiyosaki is about the worst possible authority on finance and money managment that they could have chosen. It's like the Catholic Church reading The Da Vinci Code and deciding to make Dan Brown a cardinal.

Here's the press release:

SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 26, 2005--Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO), a leading global Internet company, today announced that Yahoo! Finance has launched a series of exclusive finance columns from nine of the nation's most respected authors, economists, and financial advisors. The columns will cover a range of personal finance topics, offer investment insights, and cover the most important economic trends and issues. The new Yahoo! Finance columnists include David Bach, Stephen Covey, Ken Dychtwald, Robert Kiyosaki, Daniel Pink, Laura Rowley, Jeremy Siegel, Ben Stein, and Charles Wheelan.

...Robert Kiyosaki is a best-selling author, investor, entrepreneur, and educator. In his column, "Why the Rich Get Richer," he will discuss why many commonly held truths about managing money are obsolete. His column will run every other Tuesday.

In my opinion, Kiyosaki preys on the aspirations of struggling middle-class folks by feeding them baloney about how they can become rich. His financial advice is not just bad, it's downright dangerous to your financial health. I am sure that someone, somewhere, has gotten rich following his recommendations, but I am also sure that the vast majority of his readers are at best poorer by the cost of his book as the net result of their relationship with him.

I highly recommend John Reed's highly analytical takedown of Rich Dad, Poor Dad. I don't know Reed personally, but on the basis of this analysis alone, I would let him invest $100,000 of my money before I would give Kiyosaki $20.