"I've been waiting for some fire. I got concerned this morning when you came in concerned about the market going down. If you let the ups and downs of the stock market run your life, you should not be an investor. The number one control you must have to be an investor is Reduce Risk Through Financial Literacy 149 control over yourself. If you cannot control yourself, the highs and lows of the market will run you and you will lose during one of those ups or downs. The number one reason people are not good investors is that they lack control over them- selves and their emotions. Their desire for security and com- fort takes control of their heart, their soul, their mind, their view of the world, and their actions. As I said, a true investor does not care which direction the market goes. A true in- vestor will make money in either direction. So 'control over yourself is the first and most important control. Got it?" "I got it," I said as I backed up in my chair a little. I had come in a little wimpy and concerned. Yet I had been study- ing with rich dad for years and I knew that his intensity was letting me know that the lessons on investing were just about to begin. Rich dad continued at a rapid-fire pace. "So if you want to invest with very low risk and high returns, you have to pay the price. And the price involves study, lots of study. You need to study the basics of business. So to be a rich investor, you also have to either be a good business owner, or know what a busi- ness owner knows. In the stock market, investors want to in- vest in successful Bs. If you possess the skills of a B, you can either create your own business as a B or analyze other busi- nesses as potential investments as an I. The problem is, most people are trained to be Es or Ss in school. They do not have the skills needed by a B. That is why so few people become very rich investors." "And that is why so many people say or think that investing is risky." "Exactly," said rich dad as he reached for his legal tablet. "This is what fundamental investing is. This is a simple dia- gram of the basic formula I follow as well as many ultra-rich investors." 150 Rich Dad's Guide to Investing "In the world of investing, there are three basic asset classes you can invest in. We already covered the idea of earned income, passive income, and portfolio income. Well, the big difference between the really rich and the average rich is the tetrahedron I drew here." "You mean building a business is an investment?" I asked. "Probably the best investment of all, if you want to become a rich investor. Roughly 80% of the very rich became rich through building a business. Most people work for people who build businesses or invest in businesses. Then they won- der why the person who built the business is so rich. The rea- son is that the builder of a business will always trade money for the asset." "You mean the builder or owner of the business values the asset more than the money?" I asked.