‘Rich Dad Poor Dad’ author slams Aussies who use negative gearing

Rich Dad Poor Dad author Robert Kiyosaki, who owns 8000 properties, has unloaded on “stupid” Australians.

A man who owns more than 8000 properties has made a surprising demand ahead of the looming election.

Robert Kiyosaki, author of best-selling personal finance book ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad’, wants negative gearing to be scrapped despite it directly benefiting people like him.

Negative gearing allows investors like himself to still turn a profit or at least break even if their investment, in this case property, is running at a loss because of substantial tax breaks.

But he says it’s enabling stupid people to keep investing.

“My questions is this to you. If I’m losing $200 a month how many properties can I afford? None. And if I’m making $200 a month, how much can I afford? As much as I can get,” Mr Kiyosaki said in a video provided to news.com.au.

When he and his wife went to Australia from the US, he said he “only looked for properties that put money in our pocket.

“And the estate agent said ‘don’t worry, you’re only losing $200 a month.’ I said ‘no, I don’t lose money.’

“You’ve got to be smarter.”

Mr Kiyosaki says only a fool would rely on negative gearing.

On Wednesday, Mr Kiyosaki told the AFR in an interview: “I have another name for negative gearing: stupidity.

“It gives you a tax break for losing money, which makes no sense at all to me.

“I invest to make money. If you’re choosing a property because you can then negatively gear it, that’s an absolutely crazy investment decision. The government should be looking instead at giving tax breaks to people making good decisions.”

Of the 8000 homes in his property portfolio, some are located in Bondi Beach, Rushcutters Bay and Kings Cross in Sydney, as well as Brisbane, though the bulk are in the US.

During those property purchases, Mr Kiyosaki said he wasn’t impressed with government policies around properties including negative gearing.

Rich Dad Poor Dad author Robert Kiyosaki and wife Kim Kiyosaki. Picture's Darren Leigh Roberts

“I don’t like government support,” he told The Daily Telegraph. “I am a capitalist, not a Marxist.

“My concern is that … with negative gearing it’s monetising debt and property values are overinflated … it’s not real. It’s got to make economic sense.”

The Rich Dad Poor Dad author also believes that Australian taxes on property purchases are excessive.

For the last two federal elections Labor has moved to dump negative gearing as a policy.

However, in July last year, opposition leader Anthony Albanese indicated his party would not be looking to wind back negative gearing.