Most people fail to realize that in life, it’s not how much money  

you make. It’s how much money you keep. We’ve all heard stories  

of lottery winners who are poor, then suddenly rich, and then poor  

again. They win millions, yet are soon back where they started. Or  

stories of professional athletes, who at the age of 24 are earning  

millions, but are sleeping under a bridge 10 years later.  

I remember a story of a young basketball player who a year ago  

had millions. Today, at just 29, he claims his friends, attorney, and  

accountant took his money, and he was forced to work at a car  

wash for minimum wage. He was fired from the car wash because  

he refused to take off his championship ring as he was wiping off  

the cars. His story made national news and he is appealing his  

termination, claiming hardship and discrimination. He claims that  

the ring is all he has left and if it was stripped away, he’ll crumble.

I know so many people who became instant millionaires. And  

while I am glad some people have become richer and richer, I caution  

them that in the long run, it’s not how much money you make. It’s  

how much you keep, and how many generations you keep it.

So when people ask, “Where do I get started?” or “Tell me how to  

get rich quick,” they often are greatly disappointed with my answer.  

I simply say to them what my rich dad said to me when I was a little  

kid. “If you want to be rich, you need to be financially literate.”

We focus on the word “literacy” and not “financial literacy.”  

What defines something to be an asset or a liability are not words.  

In fact, if you really want to be confused, look up the words “asset”  

An asset puts money  

in my pocket.  

A liability takes money  

out of my pocket.

and “liability” in the dictionary. I know  

the definition may sound good to a  

trained accountant, but for the average  

person, it makes no sense. But we adults  

are often too proud to admit that  

something does not make sense.

To us young boys, rich dad said, “What defines an asset are not  

words, but numbers. And if you can’t read the numbers, you can’t tell  

an asset from a hole in the ground.” “In accounting,” rich dad would  

say, “it’s not the numbers, but what the numbers are telling you. It’s just  

like words. It’s not the words, but the story the words are telling you.”

“If you want to be rich, you’ve got to read and understand  

numbers.” If I heard that once, I heard it a thousand times from my  

rich dad. And I also heard, “The rich acquire assets, and the poor and  

middle class acquire liabilities.”