" "Most people don't," I replied. "Most people find an invest- ment plan and think it is the only investment plan or the best investment plan, but few compare their plans to other plans. And the problem is, most people will not find out if their plan was the right plan until it's too late." "You mean the average investor is investing for retirement and will not find out if their plan worked or not until they re- tire?" asked another student in the class. "They'll find out when it is too late." "For many people my age that will be true," I replied. "Sad but true." "But isn't the idea of finding a high paying job and putting $20,000 a year away a pretty good plan?" asked the student. 'After all, I'm only 26 years old." "A very good plan," I replied. "Definitely putting away more money than the average person and starting young with that much money will probably make you a very rich man. But my question is, 'Will your plan put you in the 90/10 league of investors?'" "I don't know," said the young man. "What would you ad- vise?" "Do you remember me telling you the story of walking along the beach with my rich dad at the age of 12?" I asked. "You mean the story of you wondering how he could af- ford such an expensive piece of real estate," another student replied. "Your rich dad's first big investment and his first move into the world of bigger investments?" I nodded my head and replied, "That's the story." 'And that story has to do with the 90/10 rule of money?" asked the student. 216 Rich Dad's Guide to Investing "Yes it does. It applies because I always wondered how my rich dad could acquire an asset so big even though he had very little. So after asking him how he did it, he gave me what he called the 90/10 riddle." "The 90/10 riddle?" replied one of the students. "What is the 90/10 riddle and what does it have to do with my invest- ment plan?" With that question, I turned, walked to the chalk board, and drew the following diagram. "This is the 90/10 riddle." I said. "That's the 90/10 riddle?" asked the student. "All it looks like is a financial statement without any assets in it." "And it is. So this is the question that completes the rid- dle," I said with a grin, watching the students' faces to see if they were still with me. After a long pause on my part, one of the students finally demanded, "So give us the question." "The question is," I said slowly, "How do you fill your asset column without buying any assets?" "Without buying any assets," replied the student. "You mean without any money?" The 90/10 Riddle 217 "More or less," I replied. "Your investment plan for putting $20,000 a year aside to invest with is a good idea. But my chal- lenge to you is: Is the idea of buying assets with money a 90/10 idea, or is it an average investor idea?" "So you're saying to create assets in the asset column in- stead of buying the assets with money, which is what most people do." I nodded my head.