Real estate really comes from the Spanish words meaning royal estate. That is why to this day, we do not own our properly. We only technically control our real estate. We do not really own it. The government owns our property and taxes us to use it. And that is why rich dad would often say, "It does not take money to make money. It takes a rich person's vocabulary to make money and more importantly, keep money." So as you read this book, please be aware of the different words that may be used. And always remember that one of the fundamental differences between a rich person and a poor person is his or her words ... and words are free. Are You Planning to Be Rich or Poor? 75 Planning to Be Poor After this lesson with rich dad, by simply listening to oth- ers' words, I began to notice why most people are uncon- sciously planning to be poor. Today, I often hear people say, "When I retire, my income will go down." And it does. They also often say, "My needs will go down after I retire, so that is why I will need less income." But what they often fail to realize is that while some expenses do go down, other ex- penses go up. And often these expenses-such as full-time nursing home care when they are very old, if they are lucky enough to become very old-are large. An average nursing home for the elderly can cost $5,000 a month. That is more than many people's monthly incomes today. Other people say, "I don't need to plan. I have a retirement and medical plan from my work." The problem with such thinking is that there is more to an investment plan than sim- ply investments and money. A financial plan is important be- fore someone begins to invest because it needs to take into consideration many different financial needs. These needs in- clude college education, retirement, medical costs, and long- term health care. Many of these often-large and pressing needs can be provided for by investing in products other than stocks and bonds or real estate, such as insurance products and different investment vehicles. The Future I write about money to help educate people to provide for their long-term financial well-being. Ever since the advent of Information Age retirement plans, which are 401Ks in America and Superannuation plans in Australia and Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSP) in Canada, I have grown concerned about the people who are not prepared for the Information Age. At least in the Industrial Age a company and the government did provide some financial aid for a 76 Rich Dad's Guide to Investing person after his or her working days were over. Today, when a person's 401K or "cash balance retirement plan" (which isn't a traditional pension) is drained dry, it will be the individ- ual's problem, not the company's. It is imperative that our schools begin to teach young peo- ple to invest for their long-term health and financial well- being. If we do not, we will have a massive socioeconomic time bomb on our hands.