Your dad pays taxes on gross income and then tries to buy assets with his net income. That is why it is very, very hard for him to achieve any kind of wealth. He gives a lot of his money to the government first, money that he could be using to buy assets. I pay my taxes on the net, or How то Get Rich Quick 293 what is left over, after I buy my assets. I buy assets first and pay taxes last. Your dad pays taxes first and has very little money left over to buy assets with." At the age of 10 or 11,1 really did not understand exactly what rich dad was saying. I just knew it did not sound fair and I said so. "That is not fair," I protested. "I agree," said rich dad, nodding. "It isn't fair, but that is the •law." The Laws Are the Same When discussing this issue in my seminars, I often hear, "That may be a law in the United States but that is not the law in my country." Since I teach in many English-speaking countries, I often reply with "How do you know? What makes you think the laws are different?" The fact is, most people do not know which laws are similar and which laws are different, so I offer a short lesson in economic history and laws. I point out to my classes that most English-speaking coun- tries' laws are based upon English common law, the law spread throughout the world by the British East India Company. I also point out to them the exact date the rich began to make the rules, "In 1215, the Magna Carta, the most famous document of British constitutional history, was signed. By signing the Magna Carta, King John yielded part of his power to the rich barons of England. It is now generally recognized that the Magna Carta showed the viability of oppo- sition to the excessive use of royal power." I then explain the importance of the Magna Carta just how my rich dad had explained it to me. "Ever since the signing of the Magna Carta, the rich have been making the rules." He also said, "The spiritual golden rule is: 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.' Other people say that the fi- nancial golden rule is: 'He who has the gold makes the rules.' 294 Rich Dad's Guide to Investing However, I think the real financial golden rule is: 'He who makes the rules gets the gold.'" The September 13, 1999, The Wall Street Journal dis- cussed in the introduction article seems to back up rich dad's view of the real financial golden rule. The article said, "For all the talk of mutual funds for the masses, of barbers and shoeshine boys giving investment tips, the stock market has remained the privilege of a relatively elite group. "Only 43.3% of all households owned any stock at all in 1997, the most recent year for which data is available, accord- ing to New York University economist, Edward Wolff. Of those, many portfolios were relatively small. Nearly 90% of all shares were held by the wealthiest 10% of households. The bottom line: That top 10% held 73% of the country's net worth in 1997, up from 68% in 1983.