Illustrate the flaw in the thinking of so many people. The flaw is that money

will solve all problems. That is why I cringe whenever 1 hear people ask me how

to get rich quicker. Or where do they start? I often hear, "I'm in debt so I

need to make more money."

But more money will often not solve the problem; in fact, it may actually accelerate the problem. Money often makes obvious our tragic human flaws. Money often puts a spotlight on what we do not know. That is why, all too often, a person who comes into a sudden windfall of cash-let's say an inheritance, a pay raise or lottery winnings-soon returns to the same financial mess, if not worse than the mess they were in before they received the money. Money only accentuates the cash flow pattern running in your head. If your pattern is to spend everything you get, most likely an increase in cash will just result in an increase in spending. Thus, the saying, "A fool and his money is one big party," I have said many times that we go to school to gain scholastic skills and professional skills, both important. We learn to make money with our professional skills. In the 1960s, when I was in high school, if someone did well in school academically, almost immediately people assumed this bright student would go on to be a medical doctor. Often no one asked the child if they wanted to be a doctor. It was assumed. It was the profession with the promise of the greatest financial reward.

Today, doctors are facing financial challenges I would not wish on my worst enemy; insurance companies taking control of the business, managed health care, government intervention, and malpractice suits, to name a few. Today, kids want to be basketball stars, golfers like Tiger Woods, computer nerds, movie stare, rock stars, beauty queens, or traders on Wall Street. Simply because that is where the fame, money and prestige is. That is the reason it is so hard to motivate kids in school today. They know that professional success is no longer solely linked to academic success, as it once was.

Because students leave school without financial skills, millions of

educated people pursue their profession successfully, but later find themselves

struggling financially. They work harder, but don't get ahead. What is missing

from their education is not how to make money, but how to spend money-what to do after you make it. It's called financial aptitude-what you do with the money

once you make it, how to keep people from taking it from you, how long you keep

It, and how hard that money works for you. Most people cannot tell why they

struggle financially because they don't understand cash flow. A person can be

highly educated, professionally successful and financially illiterate. These

people often work harder than they need to because they learned how to work hard,

but not how to have their money work for them.

The story of how the quest for a Financial Dream turns into a financial

nightmare. The moving-picture show of hard-working people has a set pattern.

Recently married, the happy, highly educated young couple move in together, in

one of their cramped rented apartments. Immediately, they realize that they

are saving money because two can live as cheaply as one.

The problem is, the apartment is cramped. They decide to save money to

buy their dream home so they can have kids. They now have two incomes, and they begin to focus on their careers.

Their incomes begin to increase.

As their incomes go up...their expenses go up as well.

The No. 1 expense for most people is taxes. Many people think it's income

tax, but for most Americans their highest tax is Social Security. As an employee,