I often say to my classes, "Be sure you have a plan. First, ask yourself if you are planning to be rich or if you are plan- ning to be poor. If you are planning to be poor, the older you get, the more difficult you will find the financial world." Rich dad said to me many years ago, "The trouble with being young is that you don't know what it feels like to be old. If you knew what being old felt like, you would plan your financial life differently." Planning for Being Old It is important to plan as early in life as possible. When I say this to my classes, most of my students nod in agreement. No one disagrees on the importance of planning. The problem is, very few people actually do it. Realizing that most people agreed that they needed to write a financial plan, but few were going to take the time to do it, I decided to do something about it. About an hour be- fore lunch in one of these classes, I found some cotton clothesline and cut it into different lengths. I asked the stu- dents to take one piece of line and tie each end around one of their ankles, much like one would hobble a horse. With their ankles tied about a foot'apart, I gave them another piece of the line and had them loop it around their neck and tie it back down at their ankles. The overall result was that they were hobbled at the ankles and instead of standing erect, they stooped over at about a 45-degree angle. Are You Planning to Be Rich or Poor? 77 One of the students asked if this was a new form of Chinese water torture. "No," I replied. "I'm just taking each of you into the future, if you're lucky to live so long. The ropes now represent what old age could feel like." A slow moan came from the class. A few were getting the picture. The hotel staff then brought in lunch on long tables. The lunch consisted of sandwiches, salad, and beverages. The problem was, the cold cuts were simply stacked, the bread was not sliced, the salad was not made, and the beverages were the dry mix type that had to be combined with water. The students, now stooped and aged, had to prepare their own lunch. For the next two hours, they struggled to slice their bread, stack their sandwiches, make their salads, mix their drinks, sit, eat, and clean up. Naturally, many also needed to go to the rest room during these two hours. At the end of the two hours, I asked them if they wanted to take a few moments to write out a financial plan for their life. The answer was an enthusiastic "Yes." It was interesting to observe them actively taking an interest in what they planned to do once the ropes came off. Their interest in plan- ning had increased dramatically once their point of view on life had been changed. As rich dad said, "The problem with being young is that you don't know what it feels like to be old. If you knew what being old felt like, you would plan your financial life differ- ently." He also said, "The problem with many people is that they plan only up to retirement.