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. Their incomes go up, but so does the tax bracket they're in and the real es- Rich Dad, Poor Dad tate taxes on their new large home, and their Social Secu- rity taxes, and all the other taxes. They get their large pay- check and wonder where all the money went. They buy some mutual funds and buy groceries with their credit card. The children reach 5 or 6 years of age, and the need to save for college increases as well as the need to save for their retirement. "That happy couple, born 35 years ago, is now trapped in the RatRace for the rest of their workingjdays. They workTbr the~owners of therTcomprryTfor the government paying taxes, and for the bank paying off a mortgage and credit cards. "Then, they advise their own children to 'study hard, get good grades, and find a safe job or career.' They learn noth- ing about money, except from those who profit from their naivefe and work hard all their lives. The process repeats into another hard-working generation. This is the 'Rat Race.