He said, "Most investments are too expensive when you purchase them as an employee. But they are much more affordable if my business buys them for me." I did not know what he meant by that statement, but I knew this distinction was important. I was now curious and anxious to find out what the difference was. Rich dad had studied corporate and tax law and had found ways to make a lot of money using the laws to his advantage. I drifted off that night excited about calling rich dad in the morning and saying softly to myself, "in- vestments of the rich." The Lessons Resume I had spent many hours as a child sitting at a table in one of rich dad's restaurants as rich dad discussed the affairs of his business. At these discussions, I would sit and sip my soda, while rich dad talked with his bankers, accountants, attor- neys, stockbrokers, real estate brokers, financial planners, and insurance agents. It was the beginning of my business educa- tion. Between the ages of 9 and 18,1 spent hours listening to these men and women solve intricate business problems. But those lessons around the table ended when I left for four years of college in New York, followed by five years of service with the Marine Corps. Now that my college education was 40 Rich Dad's Guide to Investing complete and my military duty nearly over, I was ready to con- tinue the lessons with rich dad. When I called him the next day, he was ready to begin my lessons again. He had turned the businesses over to Mike and was now semi-retired. He was looking for something to do rather than play golf all day. When I was young, I did not know which dad to listen to when it came to the subject of money. Both were good, hard- working men. Both were strong and charismatic. Both said I should go to college and serve my country in the military. But they did not say the same things about money or give the same advice about what to become when I grew up. Now I could compare the results of the career paths chosen by my rich dad and my poor dad. In CASHFLOW Quadrant, the book that follows Rich Dad Poor Dad, my poor dad advised me to "Go to school, get good grades, and then find a safe secure job with benefits." He was recommending a career path in this direction: On the other hand, my rich dad said, "Learn to build busi- nesses and invest through your businesses." He was recom- mending a career path that looked like this: Pouring a Foundation of Wealth 41 The CASHFLOW Quadrant is about the core emotional dif- ferences and the technical differences among the people found in each of the quadrants. These core emotional and technical differences are important because they ultimately determine which quadrant a person tends to favor and oper- ate from. For example, a person who needs job security will most likely seek the E quadrant. In the E quadrant are people from janitors to presidents of companies.