Once in their house, they have a new tax, called property tax. Then, they buy a new car, new furniture and new appliances to match their new house. All of a sudden, they wake up and their liabilities column is full of mortgage debt and credit-card debt. They're now trapped in the rat race. A child comes along. They work harder. The process repeats itself. More money and higher taxes, also called bracket creep. A credit card comes in the mail. They use it. It maxes out. A loan company calls and says their greatest "asset," their home, has appreciated in value. The company offers a "bill con- solidation" loan, because their credit is so good, and tells them the intelligent thing to do is clear off the high-interest consumer debt by paying off their credit card. And besides, interest on their home is a tax deduction. They go for it, and pay off those high-interest credit cards. They breathe a sigh of relief. Their credit cards are paid off. They've now folded their consumer debt into their home mortgage. Their payments go down because they extend their debt over 30 years. It is the smart thing to do. Their neighbor calls to invite them to go shopping-the Memorial Day sale is on. A chance to save some money. They say to themselves, "I won't buy anything. I'll just go look." But just in case they find something, they tuck that clean credit card inside their wallet. I run into this young couple all the time. Their names change, but their financial dilemma is the same. They come to one of my talks to hear what I have to say. They ask me, "Can you tell us how to make more money?" Their spend- ing habits have caused them to seek more income. They don't even know that the trouble is really how they choose to spend the money they do hayeand that is the real rqysgjrf their financial struggle. It is caused by fi- nancial illiteracy and not understanding the difference be- tween an asset and a liability. More money seldom solves someone's money prob- lems. Intelligence solves problems. There is a saying a friend of mine says over and over to people in debt. "If you find you have dug yourself into a hole... stop digging." As a child, my dad often told us that the Japanese were aware of three powers: "The power of the sword, the jewel and the mirror." The sword symbolizes the power of weapons. America has spent trillions of dollars on weapons and, because of this, is the supreme military presence in the world. The jewel symbolizes the power of money. There is some degree of truth to the saying, "Remember the golden rule. He who has the gold makes the rules." The mirror symbolizes the power_of self-knowledge. This self-knowledge, according to Japanese legend, was the most treasured of the three. The poor and middle class all too often allow the power of money to control them. By simply getting up and work- ing harder, failing to ask themselves if what they do makes sense, they shoot themselves in the foot as they leave for work every morning.