“But you are.”

“But you are.”

“Well, keep that attitude and you’ll learn nothing. Keep the attitude that I’m the problem and what choices do you have?”

“Well, if you don’t pay me more or show me more respect and teach me, I’ll quit.”

“Well put,” rich dad said. “And that’s exactly what most people do. They quit and go looking for another job, a better opportunity, and higher pay, actually thinking that this will solve the problem. In most cases, it won’t.”

“So what should I do?” I asked. “Just take this measly 10 cents an hour and smile?”

Rich dad smiled. “That’s what the other people do. But that’s all they do, waiting for a raise thinking that more money will solve their problems. Most just accept it, and some take a second job working harder, but again accepting a small paycheck.”

I sat staring at the floor, beginning to understand the lesson rich dad was presenting. I could sense it was a taste of life. Finally, I looked up and asked, “So what will solve the problem?”

“This,” he said, leaning forward in his chair and tapping me gently on the head. “This stuff between your ears.”

It was at that moment that rich dad shared the pivotal point of view that separated him from his employees and my poor dad—and led him to eventually become one of the richest men in Hawaii, while my highly educated but poor dad struggled financially all his life.

It was a singular point of view that made all the difference over a lifetime.

Rich dad explained this point of view over and over, which I call lesson number one: The poor and the middle class work for money. The rich have money work for them.

On that bright Saturday morning, I learned a completely different point of view from what I had been taught by my poor dad. At the age of nine, I understood that both dads wanted me to learn. Both dads encouraged me to study, but not the same things.