Rich Dad's Guide to Investing The Introduction What You Will Learn from Reading this Book The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the United States defines an individual as an Accredited Investor if the individual has: 1. $200,000 or more in annual income or 2. $300,000 or more in annual income as a couple, or 3. $1 million or more in net worth. The SEC established these requirements to protect the average investor from some of the worst and most risky investments in the world. The problem is, these investor requirements also shield the average investor from some of the best investments in the world, which is one reason why rich dad's advice to the average investor was, "Don't be average." Starting with Nothing This book begins with me returning from Vietnam in 1973.1 had less than a year to go before I was going to be discharged from the Marine Corps. That meant that in less than a year, I was going to have no job, no money and no assets. So this book be- gins at a point that many of you may recognize and that is a point of starting with nothing. Rich Dad's Guide to Investing Writing this book has been a challenge. I have written and . rewritten it four times. The first draft began at the SEC's Accredited Investor Level, the level that begins with a $200,000 minimum annual income. After the book was com- pleted the first time, it was Sharon Lechter, my co-author, who reminded me of rich dad's 90/10 rule of money. She said, "While this book is about the investments that the rich invest in, the reality is less than 10% of the population in America earn more than $200,000 a year. In fact, I believe it is less than 3% that earns enough to qualify as an Accredited Investor." So the challenge of this book was to write about the investments the rich invest in, investments that begin at the minimum re- quirement of $200,000 in earnings and still include all readers regardless if they have money to invest or not. That was quite a challenge and why it required writing and rewriting the book four times. It now begins at the most basic of investor levels and goes to the most sophisticated investor level. Instead of beginning at the Accredited Investor level, the book now begins in 1973 because that is when I had no job, no money, and no assets. A point in life many of us have shared. All I had in 1973 was the dream of someday being very rich and becoming an in- vestor who qualified to invest in the investments of the rich. Investments that few people ever hear about, or that are writ- ten about in the financial newspapers, or sold over the counter by investments brokers. This book begins when I had nothing but a dream and my rich dad's guidance to become an investor who could invest in the investments of the rich. So regardless if you have very little money to invest or have a lot to invest today, and regardless if you know very little about investing or you know a lot about investing, this book should be of interest to you.