My fellow Xerox salespeople thought I was spending my commissions. I wasn't. I was investing my commissions in assets. My money was working hard to make more money. Each dollar in my asset column was a great employee, The History of Taxes and the Power of Corporations 133 working hard to make more employees and buy the boss a new Porsche with before-tax dollars. I began to work harder for Xerox. The plan was working, and my Porsche was the proof. By using the lessons I learned from my rich dad, I was able to get out of the proverbial rat race of being an em- ployee at an early age. It was made possible because of the strong financial knowledge I had acquired through these lessons. Without this financial knowledge, which I call fi- nancial IQ, my road to financial independence would have been much more difficult. I now teach others through fi- nancial seminars in the hope that I may share my knowl- edge with them. Whenever I do my talks, I remind people that financial IQ is made up of knowledge from four broad areas of expertise. No. 1 is accounting. What I call financial literacy. A vital skill if you want to build an empire. The more money you are responsible for, the more accuracy is required, or the house comes tumbling down. This is the left brain side, or the details. Financial literacy is the ability to read and Qndirstarid financial statements. This ability allows you to identify the strengths and weaknesses of any business. No. 2 is investing. What I call the science of money making money. This involves strategies and formulas. This is the right brairijiideorjhe creative side. No.lTis understanding markets. The science of sup- ply and demand. There is a need to know the "technical" aspects of the market, which is emotion driven; the Tickle Me Elmo doll during Christmas 1996 is a case of a techni- cal or emotion-driven market. The other market factor is the "fundamental" or the economic sense of an investment. Does an investment make sense or does it not make sense based on the current market conditions. Many people think the concepts of investing and un- derstanding the market are too complex for kids. They fai to see that kids know those subjects intuitively. For those not familiar with the Elmo doll, it was a Sesame Street char- acter that was highly touted to the kids just before Christ- mas. Most all kids wanted one, and put it at the top of their Christmas list. Many parents wondered if the company in- tentionally held the product off the market, while continu- ing to advertise it for Christmas. A panic set in due to high demand and lack of supply. Having no dolls to buy in the stores, scalpers saw an opportunity to make a small fortune from desperate parents. The unlucky parents who did not find a doll were forced to buy another toy for Christmas. The incredible popularity of the Tickle Me Elmo doll made no sense to me, but it serves as an excellent example of supply and demand economics.