Rich Dad Poor Dad is a starting point for anyone looking to gain control of their financial future

Start minding your own 
business. Keep your
daytime job, but start
buying real assets,
not liabilities.
is 
diminished if you love what the 
investment is, understand it, and know 
the game. With small companies, my 
investment strategy is to be out of the 
stock in a year. On the other hand, my 
real estate strategy is to start small and 
keep trading up for bigger properties 
and, therefore, delay paying taxes on the gain. This allows the value to 
increase dramatically. I generally hold real estate less than seven years.
For years, even while I was with the Marine Corps and Xerox,
I did what my rich dad recommended. I kept my day job, but I still 
minded my own business. I was active in my asset column trading real 
estate and small stocks. Rich dad always stressed the importance of 
financial literacy. The better I was at understanding the accounting and 
cash management, the better I would be at analyzing investments and 
eventually starting and building my own company.

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Rich Dad Poor Dad
77
I don’t encourage anyone to start a company unless they really 
want to. Knowing what I know about running a company, I wouldn’t 
wish that task on anyone. There are times when people can’t find
employment and starting a company seems like the best solution. But 
the odds are against success: Nine out of ten companies fail in five 
years. Of those that survive the first five years, nine out of every ten 
of those eventually fail as well. So only if you really have the desire to 
own your own company do I recommend it. Otherwise, keep your 
day job and mind your own business.
When I say mind your own business, I mean to build and keep 
your asset column strong. Once a dollar goes into it, never let it come 
out. Think of it this way: Once a dollar goes into your asset column, it 
becomes your employee. The best thing about money is that it works 
24 hours a day and can work for generations. Keep your day job, be a 
great hardworking employee, but keep building that asset column.
As your cash flow grows, you can indulge in some luxuries. An
important distinction is that rich people buy luxuries last, while the 
poor and middle class tend to buy luxuries first. The poor and the 
middle class often buy luxury items like big houses, diamonds, furs, 
jewelry, or boats because they want to look rich. They look rich, but
in reality they just get deeper in debt on credit. The old-money 
people, the long-term rich, build their asset column first. Then the 
income generated from the asset column buys their luxuries. The poor
and middle class buy luxuries with their own sweat, blood, and
children’s inheritance.
A true luxury is a reward for investing in and developing a 
real asset. For example, when my wife Kim and I had extra money 
coming from our apartment houses, she went out and bought her 
Mercedes. It didn’t take any extra work or risk on her part because 
the apartment house bought the car. She did, however, have to wait 
four years while the real estate investment portfolio grew and began 
generating enough extra cash flow to pay for the car. But the luxury, 
the Mercedes, was a true reward because she proved she knew how to 
grow her asset column. That car now means a lot more to her than 

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Chapter Three: Lesson 3
78
simply another pretty car. It means she used her financial intelligence 
to afford it.
Instead, most people impulsively go out and buy a new car, or 
some other luxury, on credit. They may feel bored and just want a 
new toy. Buying a luxury on credit often causes a person to eventually 
resent that luxury because the debt becomes a financial burden.
After you’ve taken the time and invested in and built your own 
business, you are now ready to learn the biggest secret of the rich—
the secret that puts the rich way ahead of the pack. 

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Chapter Four