Chapter Four: Lesson 4
best lesson to me was: “Be smart and you won’t be pushed around as
much.” He knew the law because he was a law-abiding citizen and
because it was expensive to not know the law. “If you know you’re
right, you’re not afraid of fighting back.” Even if you are taking on
Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men.
My highly educated dad always encouraged me to land a good job
with a strong corporation. He spoke of the virtues of “working your
way up the corporate ladder.” He didn’t understand that, by relying
solely on a paycheck from a corporate employer, I would be a docile
cow ready for milking.
When I told my rich dad of my father’s advice, he only chuckled.
“Why not own the ladder?” was all he said.
As a young boy, I did not understand what rich dad meant by
owning my own corporation. It was an idea that seemed impossible
and intimidating. Although I was excited by the idea, my inexperience
wouldn’t let me envision the possibility that grown-ups would someday
work for a company I would own.
The point is that, if not for my rich
dad, I would have probably followed
my educated dad’s advice. It was merely
the occasional reminder of my rich
dad that kept the idea of owning my
own corporation alive and kept me
on a different path. By the time I was
15 or 16, I knew I wasn’t going to
continue down the path my educated
dad recommended. I didn’t know how I was going to do it, but I was
determined not to head in the direction most of my classmates were
heading. That decision changed my life.
It was not until my mid-twenties that my rich dad’s advice began
to make more sense to me. I was just out of the Marine Corps and
working for Xerox. I was making a lot of money, but every time I
looked at my paycheck, I was disappointed. The deductions were so
large and, the more I worked, the greater they became. As I becameEach dollar
in my asset column
was a great employee,
working hard to make
more employees
and buy the boss
a new Porsche.