When my oldest son became hopelessly in debt with his credit cards as a freshman in college, I not only helped him destroy the credit cards, but I also went in search of a pro- gram that would help me educate my children on financial matters. One day last year, my husband called me from his of- fice. "I have someone I think you should meet," he said. "His name is Robert Kiyosaki. He's a businessman and in- vestor, and he is here applying for a patent on an educa- tional product. I think it's what you have been looking for." Just What I Was Looking For My husband, Mike, was so impressed with .CASHFLOW, the new educational product that RobjJosatijvas de- veloplnThar us to participate in a test of the prototype. Because it was an educational game, I also asked my 19-year-old daughter, who was a freshman at a local university, if she would like to take part, and she agreed. About fifteen people, broken into three groups, partici- pated in the test. Mike was right. It was the educational product I had been looking for. But it had a twist: It looked like a color- ful Monopoly board with a giant well-dressed rat in the middle. Unlike Monopoly, however, there were two tracks: one inside and one outside. The object of the game was to There Is a Need get out of the inside track-what Robert called the "Rat Race"-and /each theciutojrackj or the "Fast Track." As Robert put it, the Fast Track simulates how rich people play in real life. Robert then defined the "Rat Race" for us. "If you look at the life of the average-educated, hard- working person, there is a similar path. The child is born and goes to school. The proud parents are excited because the child excels, gets fair to good grades, and is accepted into a college. The child graduates, maybe goes on to grad- uate school and then does exactly as programmed: looks for asafecure job or career. The child finds that job, maybe as a doctor or a lawyer, or joins the Army or works for the government. Generally, the child begins to make money, credit cards start to arrive in mass, and the shop- ping begins, if it already hasn't. "Haying money to burn, the child goes to places where other young people just like them hang out, and they meet people, they date, and sometimes they get married. Life is wonderful now, because today, both men and women work. Twoincomes are bliss. They feel successful, their fu- ture is bright, and they deddjMbjjy_aJiou vision7"TaTce~vacations and have children. The happy bundle arrives. The demand for cash is enormous. The happy couple decides that their careers are vitally impor- tant and begin to work harder, aeeking promotions and raises. The raises come, and so does another child and the need for a bigger house. They work harder, become better employees, even more dedicated. They go back to school to get more specialized skills so they can earn more money. Maybe they take a second job.