3 Ways Your Wealth Is Being Stolen, According to Robert Kiyosaki and Jared Teach
Written by
Jennifer Taylor
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Cory Dudak
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You probably expect your investments to be put to work — for you. However, that might not always be the case.
During a January episode of the “Rich Dad Radio Show” titled “Your Wealth is Being Stolen — Here’s How,” Robert Kiyosaki and Jared Teach explained why they believe your investments might not be as lucrative as you imagine.
Being informed is the best way to protect your assets, so you might be interested in what they have to say. Here are three ways Kiyosaki and Teach believe your wealth is being stolen.
Governmental Policies Overriding Shareholders
When you invest your money with a company, you may think your best interests are prioritized, but Kiyosaki and Teach said that isn’t always the case. Teach explained the concepts of shareholder and stakeholder capitalism.
He said a corporation’s job is to return as much capital as possible to its shareholders, but it also has to consider everyone who touches the company as a stakeholder). He noted the U.S. has fiduciary laws that require companies to return as much money as possible to shareholders and do what’s best for them, since they are its legal owners.
In total, companies have four fiduciary duties to investors, according to Harvard Business School Online. This includes the duty of obedience, duty of information, duty of loyalty and duty of care.
Currently, Teach doesn’t believe shareholders’ interests are being put first. He told Kiyosaki that there needs to be a return to shareholder capitalistic values, which would require a push away from environmental, social and governance standards (ESG) and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
“Everyone wants equality, everyone wants a better earth for their children,” Teach said. But at the same time, it has been hijacked as a Trojan horse for a lot of social political events that are harming companies. Kiyosaki agreed with this sentiment.
Fund Managers Pushing Their Own Agenda
“It’s like if I’m an investor in a company, I’m being ripped off by the fund managers and things I don’t [know] is beyond me,” Teach said.
He said that asset managers are taking shareholders’ retirement money and pushing their agendas in the boardroom, he explained, explaining that SEC changes made after the Enron scandal in 2001 require people who invest with an asset manager to forfeit their proxy vote to the asset manager.
It’s worth noting that some investors who work with an asset manager do have the ability to cast their own proxy votes, according to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association.
Executives Not Putting Shareholders First
A decade ago, Teach said less than 1% of C-suite executives and board members had a portion of their compensation tied to goals relating to ESG, DEI and social political agendas. However, he said 75% of these executives are now required to meet goals of this nature to collect their bonuses.
“They went woke on us,” Kiyosaki said. “And as they say, you go woke, you go broke.” He then concluded that woke capitalism has taken over America.
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