What Solomon’s ledger says about Robert Kiyosaki’s leverage, and a partnership alternative
What Kiyosaki teaches, and what he gets right
Robert Kiyosaki taught a generation to ask a sharp question: does this put money in my pocket? It is a good question. King Solomon asked a version of it too, in Proverbs 27:23: “Know well the condition of your flocks, give attention to your herds.”
Kiyosaki’s answer to how to grow, however, rests on four ideas:
- Kiyosaki’s answer to how to grow, however, rests on four ideas:
- Assets versus liabilities. Assets put money in your pocket; liabilities take it out.
- “Good debt.” Borrowing to buy cash-flowing assets is good; borrowing to consume is bad.
- Other people’s money. Use a lender’s capital so your own goes further.
- Debt as a tax and inflation tool. Interest and depreciation can be deductible, and inflation shrinks what you owe.
Cash-flow thinking, financial education, and ownership over salary are all sound. The problem is a hidden assumption: that the lender’s claim is fixed while your income is not, and that this is fine because the base case works. The ancient sources ask about the bad case.
Solomon’s model: the partnership
Solomon did not build his wealth by borrowing. His great commercial ventures were partnerships. He exchanged wheat and oil for Hiram of Tyre’s cedar and skilled labor (1 Kings 5), and his ships of Tarshish sailed alongside Hiram’s fleet, returning with gold, silver, and ivory (1 Kings 9:26–28, 10:22). Each side brought something the other lacked, and the risk of the sea was shared.
Ecclesiastes 4:9–12 gives the principle: two are better than one, and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. Maimonides went further. In his ladder of giving, the highest level is to strengthen someone through a gift, a loan, a partnership, or a job so that they no longer need help (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Gifts to the Poor 10:7).
Based on King Solomon’s wisdom, he provides three critiques, insights on how the Jewish tradition financed business without interest, an additional model for raising capital and a 5 step capital plan as an alternative to lending from banks.
How can we apply Robert’s concepts of financial literacy and King Solomon’s wisdom of financial structures to navigate today’s complex inflationary system?
To go deeper into these concepts you can search this page for a complementary ebook: privatemobility.gumroad.com/
