We agreed to co-author Robert's book. I asked him how much financial information he thought a child needed. He said it would depend on the child. He knew at a young age that he wanted to be rich and was fortunate enough to have a father figure who was rich and willing to guide him. F. juration is the foundation of_sur- cess Robert said. Just as scholastic skills are vitally impor- tant, so are financial skills and communication skills. What follows is the story of Robert's two dads, a rich one and a poor one, that expounds on the skills he's de- veloped over a lifetime. The contrast between two dads provides an important perspective. The book is supported, edited and assembled by me. For any accountants who read this book, suspend your academic book knowledge and open your mind to the theories Robert presents. Al- though many of them challenge the very fundamentals of generally accepted accounting principles, they provide a valuable insight into the way true investors analyze their investment decisions. When we as parents advise our children to "go to school, study hard and get a good job," we often do that out of cultural habit. It has always been the right thing to do. When I met Robert, his ideas initially startled me. Hav- ing been raised by two fathers, he had been taught to strive for two different goals. His educated dad advised him to work for a corporation. His rich dad advised him to own tfiexolpofation. BotH life paths required education, but the sTIbjectslstudy were completely different. His educated dad encouraged Robert to be a smart person. His rich dad encouraged Robert to know how to hire smart people. Having two dads caused many problems. Robert's real dad was the superintendent of education for the state of Hawaii. By the time Robert was 16, the threat of "If you don't get good grades, you won't get a good job" had lit- tle effect. He already knew his career path was to own cor- porations, not to work for them. In fact, if it had not been for a wise and persistent high school guidance counselor, Robert might not have gone on to college. He admits that. He was eager to start building his assets, but finally agreed that the college education would also be a benefit to him. Truthfully, the ideas in this book are probably too far- fetched and radical for most parents today. Some parents are having a hard enough time simply keeping their chil- dren in school. But in light of our changing times, as par- ents we need to be open to new and bold ideas. To encourage children to be employees is to advise your chil- dren to pay more than their fair share of taxes over a life- time, with little or no promise of a pension. And it is true that taxes are a person's greatest expense. In fact, most families work from January to mid-May for the government just to cover their taxes. New ideas are needed and this book provides them. Robert claims that the rich teach their children differ- ently.