And of course we have the viewers at home. What most people do not see in both arenas of the sports world and the investment world is what is going on behind the scenes. And that is the business behind both games. Oh, you may see the owner of the team occasionally, just as you may see a CEO or the president of the company, but the figurehead is not really the business. So as rich dad said, "The business behind the business is the real game. It's the business behind the business that makes money re- gardless of who wins the game or which way the market goes-up or down. It's the business that sells the tickets to the game; it does not buy the tickets." That is the invest- ment game rich dad taught me, and what the rest of this book is about. It is the investment game that creates the richest people in the world. So the mental attitude questions are: 1. Are you willing to start taking control over yourself? Yes_ No_ 2. Based on what you know so far, are you willing to invest the time to gain the education and experience to be- come a successful investor as an insider? Yes No Chapter 13 Investor Lesson #11: On Which Side of the Table Do You Want to Sit? Why Investing Isn't Risky My poor dad always said "Work hard and save money." My rich dad said, "Working hard and saving money are im- portant if you want to be secure and comfortable. But if you want to be rich, working hard and saving money will probably not get you there. On top of that, people who work hard and save money are often the same people that say, 'Investing is risky.'" There were many reasons rich dad reminded Mike and me that working hard and saving money was not the way he got rich. He knew that working hard and saving money was good for the masses but not for anyone wanting to become rich. There were three reasons why he recommended finding a different plan to becoming rich. These are the reasons. 1. He would say, "People who work hard and save money have a hard time getting rich because they pay more than their fair share of taxes. The government taxes On Which Side of the Table Do You Want to Sit? 119 people like this when they earn, when they save, when they spend, and when they die. If you want to be rich you will need greater financial sophistication than merely working hard and saving money." Rich dad explained further by saying, "To put $1,000 in sav- ings, the government has already taken its fair share out in taxes. So it might take $1,300 or more in earnings just to save $1,000. Then that $1,000 is immediately being eaten away by inflation, so each year your $1,000 is worth less. The meager sum of interest you are paid is also eaten by inflation as well as taxes. So let's say your bank pays you 5% interest, and in- flation runs at 4% and taxes run at 30% of the interest, your net result is a loss of money. That is why rich dad thought that working hard and saving money was a hard way to try and get rich. 2.