Personal Finance

FREE Rich Dad Education seminar

I recently attended a ‘FREE’ two and a half hour workshop put on by RICH DAD EDUCATION, another division of the RICH DAD, POOR DAD Empire. I’ve been tossing around the idea of trading my portfolio a little more now that I have more time to manage my own money. The advertisement piqued my interest so I registered. I must admit, coming from the financial industry I walked into the workshop a little skeptical but still wanted to keep open to new ideas.

The sales pitch

I think the most disappointing part of the workshop is that two-thirds of the time was spent pitching their 3-day intensive stock-trading workshop for only $995. But by the time the night was over that dropped to $495 and then it included a list of throw-ins including their proprietary Edutrader software program . . . but only if you registered that night.

What little information was taught was OK but a little too simplistic for my liking. Overall, I got very little out of the evening but was amazed that there were people willing to pay for the 3-day training. Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised because everything about the evening was a slick sales pitch suggesting returns on your portfolio of 1 to 3% per month if you learn how to trade stock using technical analysis.

Is this legitimate?

After the workshop, I went online and researched a bit more about Edutrader software and found some comments from many unhappy people. It appears the Edutrader name has been around for a while primarily in the US and may have existed under different names like Teach Me to Trade, Wealth Intelligence Academy, OptionsXpress and many more. It was all a little confusing, which makes me, even more of a skeptic. I also discovered numerous comments on www.RipOffReport.com that people need to read before they pay too much money to these stock market trading gurus.

Subsequently, after publishing this article, Marketplace did a segment where they took hidden cameras into their workshops to show what happens in these three-day workshops. If you are thinking about signing up for this, you have to check this out.

My two cents

I did not register for the three-day intensive stock-trading workshop and after doing a little research, I am very happy that I did not sign up. It seems that in this 3-day workshop, they continue the ‘hard sell’ trying to get people to register for a 6 day ‘educational’ course which will make you so smart that you are guaranteed success as a stock trader far beyond what any ‘professional’ can do. And this 6-day course will only cost you a few thousand dollars – a small price to pay for knowledge and education that will make you rich in the stock market.

I think the principle of trading stocks still appeals to me but I am experienced enough to know that a consistent return of 1% to 3% per month (that’s 12% to 36% per year) is not easy, nor realistic. I also think education is absolutely essential to getting ahead financially. I am still passionate about seminars and educational training but I get personally offended when trainers spend more time selling that teaching. I am surprised that this sort of hard sell still exists today and that so many people continue to chase the dream of rags to riches. Every successful person I know is successful because of hard work. I guess the lesson I learned from my mom will always stand the test of time – if it’s too good to be true, it probably is.

Maybe RICH DAD EDUCATION, Edutrader, Teach Me to Trade or whatever they want to call themselves will help some people make millions of dollars. Or maybe not. I’m guessing it will certainly make them millions. My message is simply to research before you buy so you can make a sound decision instead of one that is made impulsively as a result of pressure pitches and slick lines. If you don’t know what you are getting, then don’t buy it.

What’re your opinions?

Have you gone to any of their workshops? Is there anyone out there that feels they paid for the 3 or 6-day workshop and got value out of it? I would love to hear from you if you are willing to share your opinions good or bad. Research is important and seeking the opinions of others is important to me. Email us [email protected].

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