Car imagery
In Chapter 2, the narrator introduces a luxury car, specifically a Cadillac, as an item that appears to separate the rich from the poor. Robert and Mike, the "poor" kids, are not invited for a ride to the beach in the Cadillac due to their perceived lack of money. As a child, Robert associates a "nice" car with wealth, however Rich Dad soon teaches him that a fancy car is all too often something that prevents people from accumulating wealth. Between the payments (for people who borrow money to buy a car) and the cost of maintaining it, a fancy car is soon associated with premature over-consumption. The fancy car, according to the author, should ideally be paid for out of passive income from investments. The car is therefore associated with both aspirations and financial folly.
Money imagery
Money, to young Robert, is associated with power, luxury, and opportunity. One of his first ventures, with his friend Mike, involved an attempt to literally "make" coins out of scrap lead. Yet as much as he desires money, he soon learns that there's a difference between working for money and working for other things such as skills, knowledge, or opportunity.
Water imagery
Much of the material in the book relates to "cash flow", which Kiyosaki illustrates by means of a bucket or tank that can have water flowing in (representing income) or water flowing out (representing spending). The analogy becomes more and more complex over time, but Kiyosaki's philosophy is essentially simple: people who spend less than they earn tend to accumulate wealth much the way water in a tank or glass will rise if you put more in than you take out.
Trap imagery
Throughout the book, several emotions are described and presented as potential "traps". These emotions include fear and greed. The emotions are not bad, necessarily, but they must be directed in a productive way instead of being allowed to lead a person into bad financial or work related decisions. Rich Dad values independent thought and a rational approach to decision making instead of decision making based on emotion. He teaches Robert how to make his emotions work for him instead of allowing himself to be trapped in unproductive habits.
