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  3. Rich Dad, Poor DadM I had two fathers, a rich

Rich Dad, Poor DadM I had two fathers, a rich

游客2024-06-10  10
问题                                Rich Dad, Poor DadM
    I had two fathers, a rich one and a poor one. One was highly educated and intelligent; he had a Ph.D. and completed four years of undergraduate work in less than two years. He then went on to Stanford University, the University of Chicago, and Northwestern University to do his advanced studies, all on full financial scholarships. The other father never finished the eighth grade.
    Both men were successful in their careers, working hard all their lives. Both earned substantial incomes. Yet one struggled financially all his life. The other would become one of the richest men in Hawaii. One died leaving tens of millions of dollars to his family, charities and his church. The other left bills to be paid.
    They had very different points of view about the subject of money. For example, one dad would say, "The love of money is the root of all evil." The other, "The lack of money is the root of all evil." The contrast in their points of view, particularly where money was concerned, was so extreme that I grew curious and intrigued. I began to start thinking for long periods of time about what each was saying.
    One of the reasons the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the middle class struggles in debt is because the subject of money is taught at home, not in school. Most of us learn about money from our parents. So what can poor parents tell their child about money? They simply say "Stay in school and study hard." The child may graduate with excellent grades but with a poor person’s financial programming and mind-set. It was learned while the child was young.
    Money is not taught in schools. Schools focus on scholastic and professional skills, but not on financial skills. This explains how smart bankers, doctors and accountants who earned excellent grades in school may still struggle financially all of their lives.
    Although both dads worked hard, I noticed that one dad had a habit of putting his brain to sleep when it came to money matters, and the other had a habit of exercising his brain. The long-term result was that one dad grew stronger financially and the other grew weaker. It is not much different
from a person who goes to the gym to exercise on a regular basis versus someone who sits on the couch watching television. Proper physical exercise increases your chances for health, and proper mental exercise increases your chances for wealth. Laziness decreases both health and wealth.
    My two dads had opposing attitudes in thought. One dad thought that the rich should pay more in taxes to take care of those less fortunate. The other said, "Taxes punish those who produce and reward those who don’t produce."
    One dad recommended, "Study hard so you can find a good company to work for." The other recommended, "Study hard so you can find a good company to buy."
    One dad said, "The reason I’m not rich is because I have you kids." The other said, "The reason I must be rich is because I have you kids."
    One encouraged talking about money and business at the dinner table. The other forbade the subject of money to be discussed over a meal.
    One said, "When it comes to money, play it safe, don’t take risks." The other said, "Learn to manage risk."
    One believed, "Our home is our largest investment and our greatest asset." The other believed, "My house is a liability, and if your house is your largest investment, you’re in trouble."
    Both dads paid their bills on time, yet one paid his bills first while the other paid his bills last.
    One dad believed in a company or the government taking care of you and your needs. He was always concerned about pay raises, retirement plans, medical benefits, sick leave, vacation days and other perks. The idea of job protection for life and job benefits seemed more important, at times, than the job. He would often say, "I’ve worked hard for the government, and I’m entitled to these benefits."
    The other believed in total financial self-reliance. He spoke out against the "entitlement" mentality and how it was creating weak and financially needy people. He was emphatic about being financially competent.
    One dad straggled to save a few dollars. The other simply created investments.
    One dad taught me how to write an impressive resume so I could find a good job. The other taught me how to write strong business and financial plans so I could create jobs.
    Being a product of two strong dads allowed me the luxury of observing the effects different thoughts have on one’s life. I noticed that people really do shape their life through their thoughts.
    For example, my poor dad always said, "I’ll never be rich." And that prophesy became reality. My rich dad, on the other hand, always referred to himself as rich. He would say things like, "I’m a rich man, and rich people don’t do this." Even when he was flat broke after a major financial setback, he continued to refer to himself as a rich man. He would cover himself by saying, "There is a difference between being poor and being broke. Broke is temporary, and poor is eternal."
    My poor dad would also say, ’Tm not interested in money," or "Money doesn’t matter." My rich dad always said, "Money is power."
    The power of our thoughts may never be measured or appreciated, but it became obvious to me as a young boy to be aware of my thoughts and how I expressed myself. I noticed that my poor dad was poor not because of the amount of money he earned, which was significant, but because of his thoughts and actions. As a young boy, having two fathers, I became acutely aware of being careful which thoughts I chose to adopt as my own. Whom should I listen to—my rich dad or my poor dad?
    Although both men had tremendous respect for education and learning, they disagreed in what they thought was important to learn. One wanted me to study hard, earn a degree and get a good job to work for money. He wanted me to study to become a professional, an attorney or an accountant or to go
to business school for my MBA. The other encouraged me to study to be rich, to understand how money works and to learn how to have it work for me. "I don’t work for money!" were words he would repeat over and over, "Money works for me!"
    At the age of 9, I decided to listen to and learn from my rich dad about money. In doing so, I chose not to listen to my poor dad, even though he was the one with all the college degrees.
    A Lesson From Robert Frost
    Robert Frost is my favorite poet. Although I love many of his poems, my favorite is The Road Not Taken. I use its lesson almost daily:
                  The Road Not Taken
    Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
    And sorry I could not travel both
    And be one traveler, long I stood
    And looked down one as far as I could
    To where it bent in the undergrowth;
    Then took the other, as just as fair,
    And having perhaps the better claim,
    Because it was grassy and wanted wear
    Though as for that the passing there
    Had worn them really about the same,
    And both that morning equally lay
    In leaves no step had trodden black.
    Oh, I kept the first for another day !
    Yet knowing how way leads onto way,
    I doubted if I should ever come back.
    I shall be telling this with a sigh
    Somewhere ages and ages hence;
    Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
    I took the one less traveled by,
    And that has made all the difference.
                           —Robert Frost [ 19161
    And that made all the difference.
    Over the years, I have often reflected upon Robert Frost’s poem. Choosing not to listen to my highly educated dad’s advice and attitude about money was a painful decision, but it was a decision that shaped the rest of my life.
    Because I was only 9 years old when I started, the lessons my rich dad taught me were simple. And when it was all said and done, there were only six main lessons, repeated over 30 years. This book is about those six lessons, put as simply as possible as my rich dad put forth those lessons to me. The lessons are not meant to be answers but guideposts. Guideposts that will assist you and your children to grow wealthier no matter what happens in a world of increasing change and uncertainty.
    Lesson 1 The Rich Don’t Work for Money
    Lesson 2 Why Teach Financial Literacy?
    Lesson 3 Mind Your Own Business
    Lesson 4 The History of Taxes and the Power of Corporations
    Lesson 5 The Rich Invent Money
    Lesson 6 Work to Learn—Don’t Work for Money [br] The middle class ______partly because the subject of money is taught at home, not in school
选项
答案 struggles in debt
解析 本题的关键词是The middle class，可定位到文中第4段首句，即可找到信息点：struggles in debt。
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