The Wall Street Journal published a list of the best-selling personal finance books of 2006 in the weekend edition. The article focused on the fact that only one of the bestsellers was published this year. But there was something else that jumped out: How truly awful many of the best-selling titles were.

Number 1 was Robert Kiyosaki's perennial bestseller Rich Dad Poor Dad, which is easily the worst of the 200-plus investing/personal finance books I've read. The fact that it's written at about a third-grade level aside, it is chockful of hackneyed advice, bad advice, and just plain weird advice. He actually suggests insider trading as a way to make money in the stock market. There is also something vaguely creepy about Kiyosaki's resentment of his father who devoted his life to public service. Kiyosaki needs some counseling. For an excellent write-up of all that is wrong with this book, visit the site of real estate guru's guru, John T. Reed.

Kiyosaki also shows up at number three on the list, this time with the book Why We Want You to Be Rich, with the one, the only, and the all-too omnipresent Donald Trump. There's something really amazing about this collaboration. Most intelligent investors have long suspected that Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki were full of it. By collaborating with each other, each has successfully destroyed any credibility he might have had. It's like Michael Bolton's duet with Kenny G. It just makes you hate both of them a little bit more.

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Terrible books top this year's personal finance best-sellers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 03 Jan 2007 11:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.