The rise of automation means that many workers around the world will eventually be replaced by robots and artificial intelligence, and most Americans are not financially prepared to face a reduction in income, said Robert Kiyosaki, best-selling author of Rich Dad Poor Dad.
“The reason we have social unrest is that people that are protesters [don’t have assets]. They’ve got nothing. If they lose their jobs and they lose their income and they have [no assets], we’re going to have a revolution,” Kiyosaki told Kitco News.
According to a study done by McKinsey & Co. in 2017, up to 800 million workers around the world could be replaced by automation by 2030. The study said that most of the lost jobs will happen from sectors requiring physical or manual labor, while demand for creatives and information technology workers will rise in most of the developed world.
“Automation and AI will lift productivity and economic growth, but millions of people worldwide may need to switch occupations or upgrade skills,” the McKinsey report said. “Our new research estimates that between almost zero and 30 percent of the hours worked globally could be automated by 2030, depending on the speed of adoption.”
The main problem is that our education system does not properly prepare citizens to become financially stable, said Kiyosaki.
He tells the story of his father, or “poor dad”, who had a PhD and worked in government for the state of Hawaii but was then fired when he switched from being a Democrat to a Republican. The father of his best friend, or “rich dad”, didn’t have higher education but instead obtained financial freedom with financial literacy.
“When my father shifted parties, he lost his job. He was head of education for the state of Hawaii, and the governor basically fired him. His PhD was worthless, so I come back from Vietnam in 1973 and my old man is unemployed.” he said. “My poor dad says to me, go to school and get a job and get your PhD and I said, that’s what you did. My rich dad said, you better understand financial literacy.”
Most Americans don’t have assets that can weather a storm, Kiyosaki said, adding that the school system trains people to have jobs not build assets that can produce passive income, or generate cash flow.
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