I suspect that some of those six little house deals will begin selling and the $40,000 note will be converted to cash. I need to call my accountant to be prepared for cash and seek ways to shelter it. The point I would like to make is that investments come and go, the market goes up and goes down, economies im- prove and crash. The world is always handing you oppor- tunities of a lifetime, every day of your life, but all too often we fail to see them. But they are there. And the more the world changes and the more technology changes, the more opportunities there will be to allow you and your family to be financially secure for generations to come. So why bother developing your financial intelligence? Again, only you can answer that. I know why I continue to learn and develop. I do it because I know there are changes coming. I'd rather welcome change than cling to the past. I know there will be market booms and market crashes. I want to continually develop my financial intelli- gence because at each market change, some people will be on their knees begging for their jobs. Others, meanwhile, will Lake the lemons that life hands them-and we are all handed lemons occasionally-and turn them into millions. That's financial intelligence. I am often asked about the lemons I have turned into millions. As a personal note, I hesitate using many more examples of personal investments. I hesitate because I am afraid it will come across as bragging or tooting my own horn. That is not my intention. I use the examples only as numerical and chronological illustrations of actual and sim- ple cases. I use the examples because I want you to know that it is easy. It is easier, the more familiar you are with the four pillars of financial intelligence. Personally, I use two main vehicles to achieve financial growth: real estate and small stocks. I use real estate as my foundation. Day in and day out, my properties provide cash flow and occasional spurts of growth in value. The small-cap stocks are used for fast growth. I do not recommend anything that I do. The examples are just that, examples. If the opportunity is too complex and I do not understand the investment, I don't do it. Sim- ple math and common sense is all that is needed to do well financially. There are five reasons for using the examples. 1. To inspire people to learn more. 2. To let people know it is easy if the foundation is strong. 3. To show that anyone can achieve great wealth. 4. To show that there are millions of ways to achieve your goals. 5. To show that it's not rocket science. In 1989,1 used to jog through a lovely neighborhood in Portland, Oregon. It was a suburb that had little ginger- bread houses. They were small and cute. I almost expected to see Little Red Riding Hood skipping down the sidewalk on her way to Granny's. There were "for sale" signs everywhere. The timber market was terrible, the stock market had just crashed, and the economy was depressed.