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

OVERCOMING OBSTACLES
129
The primary difference between a rich person
and a poor person is how they manage fear. 
Once people have studied and become financially literate, they may 
still face roadblocks to becoming financially independent. There are 
five main reasons why financially literate people may still not develop 
abundant asset columns that could produce a large cash flow. The five 
reasons are:
1. Fear
2. Cynicism
3. Laziness
4. Bad habits
5. Arrogance
Overcoming Fear 
I have never met anyone who really likes losing money. And in all 
my years, I have never met a rich person who has never lost money. 
But I have met a lot of poor people who have never lost a dime—
investing, that is.
The fear of losing money is real. Everyone has it. Even the rich. 
But it’s not having fear that is the problem. It’s how you handle fear. 
It’s how you handle losing. It’s how you handle failure that makes the 

---

Chapter Seven: Overcoming Obstacles
130
difference in one’s life. The primary difference between a rich person 
and a poor person is how they manage that fear.
It’s okay to be fearful. It’s okay to be a coward when it comes 
to money. You can still be rich. We’re all heroes at something, and 
cowards at something else. My friend’s wife is an emergency-room 
nurse. When she sees blood, she flies into action. When I mention 
investing, she runs away. When I see blood, I don’t run. I pass out.
My rich dad understood phobias about money. “Some people are 
terrified of snakes. Some people are terrified about losing money. Both 
are phobias,” he would say. So his solution to the phobia of losing 
money was this little rhyme: “If you hate risk and worry, start early.”
If you start young, it’s easier to be rich. I won’t go into it here,
but there is a staggering difference between a person who starts 
investing at age 20 versus age 30. The purchase of Manhattan Island 
is said to be one of the greatest bargains of all time. New York was 
purchased for $24 in trinkets and beads. Yet if that $24 had been 
invested at 8 percent annually, that $24 would have been worth more 
than $28 trillion by 1995. Manhattan could be repurchased with 
money left over to buy much of Los Angeles.
But what if you don’t have much time left or would like to retire 
early? How do you handle the fear of losing money?
My poor dad did nothing. He simply avoided the issue, refusing
to discuss the subject.
My rich dad, on the other hand, recommended that I think
like a Texan. “I like Texas and Texans,” he used to say. “In Texas, 
everything is bigger. When Texans win, they win big. And when
they lose, it’s spectacular.”
“They like losing?” I asked.
“That’s not what I’m saying. Nobody likes losing. Show me a happy 
loser, and I’ll show you a loser,” said rich dad. “It’s a Texan’s attitude 
toward risk, reward, and failure I’m talking about. It’s how they handle 
life. They live it big. Not like most of the people around here, living 
like roaches when it comes to money, terrified that someone will shine 
a light on them, and whimpering when the grocery clerk shortchanges 
them a quarter.” 

---

Rich Dad Poor Dad
131
Rich dad went on. “What I like best is the Texas attitude. They’re 
proud when they win, and they brag when they lose. Texans have a
saying, ‘If you’re going to go broke, go big.’ You don’t want to admit 
you went broke over a duplex.” 
He constantly told Mike and me that the greatest reason for lack 
of financial success was because most people played it too safe. “People 
are so afraid of losing that they lose” were his words.
Fran Tarkenton, a one-time great NFL quarterback, says it still 
another way: “Winning means being unafraid to lose.”
In my own life, I’ve noticed that winning usually follows losing. 
Before I finally learned to ride a bike, I first fell down many times.
I’ve never met a golfer who has never lost a golf ball. I’ve never met 
people who have fallen in love who have never had their heart broken. 
And I’ve never met someone rich who has never lost money.
So for most people, the reason they don’t win financially is because 
the pain of losing money is far greater than the joy of being rich. 
Another saying in Texas is, “Everyone wants to go to heaven,