"I think of money as only a medium of exchange. In reality, money by itself has very little value. So as soon as I have money, I want to exchange it for something of value. The irony is that for many people who cling desperately to money, the money they spend for things of very little value ... is why they are poor. They say things like 'safe as money in the bank,' and when they do spend their hard-earned money, they turn their cash into trash." "So they value money more than you do," I said. "Yes," said rich dad. "In many cases, the poor and middle class struggle because they place far too much importance on money itself. So they cling to it, work hard for it, work hard at living frugally, shop at sales, and do their best to save as much of it as they can. Many of these people try to get rich by being cheap. But at the end of the day, you may have a lot of money, but you're still cheap." "I don't understand," I replied. "You're talking about the values my mom and dad tried to instill in us. You're talking about the way I currently think. I'm in the Marine Corps, and they don't pay much money so I find myself naturally think- ing that way." "I understand," rich dad replied. "Thrift and frugality have their place. But today we are talking about the difference be- tween the plan to be rich and the other two plans." "And the difference is the price," I restated. "Yes," said rich dad. "And most people think the price is measured in money." "And what you're saying is that the price is measured in time," I added, beginning to understand what rich dad was getting at. "Because time is more important than money." 108 Rich Dad's Guide to Investing Nodding, rich dad said, "Many people want to get rich, or invest in the investments the rich invest in, but most are not willing to invest the time. That is why only three out of a hun- dred Americans are rich-and one of those three inherited that money." Rich dad again wrote on his yellow legal tablet the three core values we had been discussing: 1. To be secure 2. To be comfortable 3. To be rich "You can invest to be secure and comfortable using an au- tomatic system or plan. In fact, I recommend that for most people. Simply work and turn your money over to profes- sional managers or institutions and invest for the long term. People who invest in this manner will probably do better than the individual who thinks he or she is the Tarzan of Wall Street. A steady program of putting money away following a plan is the best way to invest for most people." "But if I want to be rich, I have to invest in something more valuable than money, and that is time. Is this what you've been getting at with this lesson?" "I wanted to make sure you understood the lesson," said rich dad. "You see, most people want to be rich but they are not willing to first invest the time. They operate on hot tips or wild get-rich-quick schemes.