When I saw an ad on the internet for a free Rich Dad education seminar, I thought about going and then writing a piece about how awful it was. I hate to be prejudicial, but having read much of Robert Kiyosaki's work, I would be shocked if his program had anything of value.

Chuck Jaffe over at Marketwatch spared me the trouble, went to the seminar, and put the Rich Dad in his place. The event featured a rant against skepticism and caution, which I would argue are two key attributes for successful investors: particularly in a world filled with snake oil salesmen like Robert Kiyosaki.

Jaffe sums it up: "Kiyosaki's world is full of platitudes, and is not so rich on specific advice. The question is whether that works when you are paying hundreds or thousands of dollars to get the specific help needed to make this work entirely on your own."

Jaffe goes on to observe that Kiyosaki's work feeds on hope and dreams, and that combined with emphasis on positivity and the rejection of skepticism reminds me of one thing: Amway motivational organizations. Not surprisingly, Kiyosaki has a long history of involvement with multi-level marketing, and even wrote a book about it: The Business School For People Who Like Helping People. If Jaffe can declare the seminar the Stupid Investment of the Week, I'm declaring that book the stupid book of the Holocene epoch.

Bottom line: Kiyosaki and others like him are essentially selling cliches and positive thinking. But who needs to drive to a seminar to think positively? Bobby McFerrin's "Don't worry, be happy" will set you back 99 cents on iTunes, and you'll acquire approximately the same amount of wisdom listening to that.

Each week (usually on Saturdays), I'll bring you my list of the four best pieces from the Wall Street Journal for the past week. Did I miss an article you thought was great? Leave a comment and let everyone know.

All right, below are my picks for this past week (note that log-in is required to read the full articles):

1. Boiling Down Top Finance Books This piece lists the bestselling finance books of the past year: and two of the top three are the worst personal finance books I've read: Why We Want You to be Rich and Rich Dad, Poor Dad.
2. Can Spending a Day Stuck to a Velcro Wall Help Build a Team? I've participated in some of these team-building exercises and didn't feel like I got much out of them. But I suppose it depends on the situation. Jared Sandberg has an interesting piece on it.
3. Index Funds 30 years ago, Vanguard started the index fund revolution, Smart Money comes out with their list of the better large-cap and small-cap index funds. These are a must for passive investors and retirement funds.
4. Up for Review: 401(k) Industry With calls for Congressional hearings about collusion hurting 401(k) investors, keep up to date with the controversy.