'And trading is a procedure or technique. A person trading stocks is not much different than a person who buys a house, fixes it up, and sells it for a higher profit. One trades stocks; the other trades real estate. It's still trading. In reality, trading is centuries old. Camels carried ex- otic wares across the desert to consumers in Europe. So a re- tailer is also a trader in a sense. And trading is a profession. But it is not what I call investing." "And to you, investing is a plan, a plan to get you from where you are to where you want to be," I said, doing my best to understand rich dad's distinctions. Rich dad nodded and said, "I know it's picky and seems a minor detail. Yet, I wan* to do my best to reduce the confu- sion around this subject of investing. Every day, I meet people who think they're investing, but financially they're going nowhere. They might as well be pushing a wheelbarrow in a circle." It Takes More Than One Vehicle In the previous chapter, I listed a few of the different types of investment-products and procedures available. More are being created every day because so many people have so many different needs. When people are not clear on their own personal financial plans, all these different products and procedures become overwhelming and confusing. Rich dad used the wheelbarrow as his vehicle of choice when describing many investors. "Too many so-called in- vestors get attached to one investment product and one in- vestment procedure. For example, a person may invest only 68 Rich Dad's Guide to Investing in stocks or a person may invest only in real estate. The per- son becomes attached to the vehicle and then fails to see all the other investment vehicles and procedures available. The person becomes an expert at that one wheelbarrow and pushes it in a circle forever." One day when he was laughing about investors and their wheelbarrows, I had to ask for further clarification. His re- sponse was, "Some people become experts at one type of product and one procedure. That is what I mean by becom- ing attached to the wheelbarrow. The wheelbarrow works; it hauls a lot of cash around, but it is still a wheelbarrow. A true investor does not become attached to the vehicles or the pro- cedures. A true investor has a plan and has multiple options as to investment vehicles and procedures. All a true investor wants to do is get from point A to point B safely and within a desired time frame. That person doesn't want to own or push the wheelbarrow." Still confused, I asked for greater clarification. "Look," he said, becoming a little frustrated, "if I want to go from Hawaii to New York, I have a choice of many vehicles. I don't really want to own them. I just want to use them. When I climb on a 747,1 don't want to fly it. I don't want to fall in love with it. I just want to get from where I am to where I am going. When I land at Kennedy Airport, I want to use the taxi to get from the airport to my hotel.