Financial guru tells Millennials that if they save, they're 'losers'

The author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad says Millennials should be taking on debt. (Flickr/Gage Skidmore)

If you’re a saver, "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" author and financial guru Robert Kiyosaki has a word for you: Loser.

But if you’re like him, a debtor who borrows money, Kiyosaki considers you a Winner.

These are labels Kiyosaki has used repeatedly. He posted it on Facebook in 2012 and in a video in 2008.

Late last month, on an appearance on CNBC, Kiyosaki was clear he hasn’t changed his position.

“I’ve always said savers are losers and parents are still telling their kids to save money,” Kiyosaki said. “Why would you save money when every central bank is printing money?”

Kiyosaki’s book Rich Dad, Poor Dad wasfirst self-published in 1997 and then published commercially three years later in 2000. It advocated buying properties with a minimal down payment and leveraging minimal assets or on margin to get into the stock market.

The book, along with Kiyosaki’s appearances on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” cemented his reputation as a personal financial advice guru. Since then, Kiyosaki has written more than a dozen other books including one with Republican presidential contender Donald Trump.

Both men also share another thing in common: the two entrepreneurs, who pride themselves on their financial acumen, have previously filed for corporate bankruptcies.

During his CNBC appearance, Kiyosaki defended his expertise.

“I’ve had business trouble, but never investing troubles,” he said. The world economy is in a downslope, according to Kiyosaki, and even the rich are getting poorer.

Toronto financial advisor Shannon Lee Simmons who focuses her business on Millennials, says Kiyosaki’s comments are upsetting and problematic for people in their 20s and 30s.

“There are truths and lies in what he says,” Simmons said. “What’s right is you do have to come up with creative ways to save and build equity and assets. It’s important to think of creative ways to get into the housing markets but to say that about savers is a problem.”

Simmons said she has worked on some creative solutions for clients, including two couples getting together to buy a house that can start building equity for them.

For millennials, savings accounts like TSFAs and RSPs are useful, she said. They are financial tools that give some tax benefits for an immediate gain then later those savings can be turned into a down payment for a house.

“The game has totally changed. The ways we save and how we’re coming up with money for down payments and mortgage payments, real estate is not the be-all, end-all that it may have been in previous generations,” she said.

She discourages her clients from buying homes just because the interest rates are so tempting.

“Yes, interest rates are obnoxiously cheap right now but don’t buy a house you can’t afford,” she said. “I find it really insulting to hear someone say borrow as much as you can.”

For Millennials, saving some of what they earn is not something that only “losers,” according to Kiyosaki’s thinking, should do, Simmons said.

“This is a very expensive time for Millennials. They’re out of school, in their first jobs and paying off student loans, trying to save money for a car, getting married. Things are happening at this time that makes overleveraging ourselves very dangerous.”