Most people spend their lives mentally caged in financial ignorance. They begin to look like wild lions trapped in small cages at the zoo. They just pace back and forth wondering what happened to the life they once knew. One of the most important discoveries peo- ple can make by taking the time to learn how to plan is to find out what is financially possible for their lives ... and that is priceless. "The continual planning process also keeps me young. I am often asked why I spend my time building more busi- nesses, investing, and making more money. The reason is I feel good doing it. While I make a lot of money doing what I do, I do it because making money keeps me young and alive. You wouldn't ask a great painter to stop painting once he or she was successful, so why should I stop building businesses, investing, and making more money? That is what I do, just as painting is what artists do to keep their spirits young and alive, even though the body ages." "So the reason you asked me to take the time to plan at dif- ferent levels is* for me to find out what is financially possible for my life?" I asked. "That's it," said rich dad. "That is why you want to plan. The more you find out what might be possible for this tremendous gift called life, the younger at heart you remain. People who plan only for security or who say, 'My income will go down when I retire' are planning for a life of less, not a life of more. If our maker has created a life of unlimited abun- 102 Rich Dad's Guide to Investing dance, why should you plan on limiting yourself to having less?" "Maybe that is what they were taught to think," I said. "And that is tragic," rich dad replied. "Very tragic." As rich dad and I sat there, my mind and heart drifted to my poor dad. I knew he was hurting and struggling to start his life over again. Many times I had sat down with him and at- tempted to show him a few of the things I knew about money. However, we usually got into an argument. I think there is often that kind of breakdown in communication when two parties communicate from two different core values, one of security and the other of being rich. As much as I loved my dad, the subject of money, wealth, and abundance was not a subject we could communicate about. Finally, I decided to let him live his life and I would focus on living mine. If he ever wanted to know about money, I would let him ask, rather than trying to help when my help had not been requested. He never asked. Instead of trying to help him financially, I de- cided to just love him for his strengths and not get into what I thought were his weaknesses. After all, love and respect are far more important than money. Mental Attitude Quiz In retrospect, my real dad had a plan only for financial se- curity via job security. The problem was that his plan failed when he ran for public office against his boss. He failed to update his plan and continued to plan only for security.