" "But I have one more question about preparation." "And what is that?" asked rich dad. "What if I find a deal and I don't have any money?" I asked. 140 Rich Dad's Guide to Investing Basic Rule Number Six "That is investment basic rule number six," said rich dad. "If you are prepared, which means you have education and experience, and you find a good deal, the money will find you or you will find the money. Good deals seem to bring out the greed in people. And I don't mean to use the word greed in a negative way. I speak of greed as a general human emotion, an emotion we all have. So when a person finds a good deal, the deal attracts the cash. If the deal is bad, then it is really hard to raise the cash." "Have you ever seen a good deal that did not attract the money?" I asked. "Many times, but it was not the deal that did not attract the cash. The person controlling the deal did not attract the cash. In other words, the deal would have been good if the guy in charge of the deal had stepped aside. It is like having a world- ranked racecar with an average driver. No matter how good the car is, no one would bet on it with an average driver at the wheel. In real estate, people often say the key to success is lo- cation, location, location. I think differently. In reality, in the world of investing-regardless of if it is real estate, business, or paper assets-the key is always people, people, people. I have seen the best real estate in the best location lose money because the wrong people were in charge." "So, again, if I am prepared, I have done my homework, I have some experience and a track record, and I find some- thing that is a good investment, then finding the money is not that hard." "That has been my experience. Unfortunately, all too often, the worst deals, which are deals that investors like me would not invest in, are presented to unsophisticated investors, and the unsophisticated investors often lose their money." 'And that is why there is the Securities and Exchange The Basic Rules of Investing 141 Commission," I said. "Its job is to protect the average investor from these bad deals." "Correct," said rich dad. "The primary job of investors is to make sure their money is secure. The next step is to do their best to convert that money into cash flow or capital gains. That is when you find out if you or the person to whom you entrusted your money can turn that security into an asset or if it will become a liability.'Again, it is not the investment that is necessarily safe or risky, it is the investor." "So is that the last investor basic rule?" I asked. "No. Not by a long shot," said rich dad. "Investing is a sub- ject you can learn the basics of for the rest of your life. The good news is that the better you are at the basics, the more money you make and the less risk you have. But there is one more investor basic rule I would like to leave you with. And that is investor basic rule number seven.