Page 66 - Rich Dad's Increase Your Financial IQ: Get Smarter with Your Money

reason why financial IQ #2 is so important. You cannot become rich if all
the money you make is taken from you by financial predators.

TAXES ARE IMPORTANT

Before going on, I need to say that I am not against the government or
paying taxes. Rich dad said, “Taxes are an expense for living in a civilized

society.” He pointed out to his son and me that taxes pay for schools and
teachers, fire and police protection, court systems, the military, roads,
airports, food safety, and the general operation of the business of
government. Rich dad’s frustration with taxes was that bureaucrats very

rarely solved the problems they faced, which meant taxes had to keep going
up. Instead of solving the problem, a bureaucrat often calls for a committee
to study the problem, which means nothing will be done. Realizing that we
will only pay more in taxes, rich dad’s philosophy was, “A bureaucrat’s job

is to get their hands deeper in your pockets—legally—and your job is to
have them take as little as possible—legally.”
Unfortunately, it is often the people who earn the least who pay the
highest percentage in taxes. At a recent event, Warren Buffett had this to

say about the U.S. tax system: “The 400 of us [here] pay a lower part of our
income in taxes than our receptionists do, or our cleaning ladies, for that
matter. If you’re in the luckiest 1 percent of humanity, you owe it to the rest
of humanity to think about the other 99 percent.”

WHICH POLITICAL PARTY IS BETTER?

Just so you know, I am not Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal,

socialist or capitalist. When asked, I simply reply that I am all of the above.
For example, as a capitalist, I want to make a lot of money and pay as little
in taxes as possible. As a socialist, I make tax-deductible donations to
charities and worthy causes, and I want my taxes to provide for a better
society and care for those who truly cannot care for themselves.

Many people believe that Republicans are better than Democrats when it
comes to money. The facts do not support their belief. Republicans say,
“Democrats tax and spend.” Republicans, on the other hand, borrow and

spend. The net result, regardless of party, is increasing long-term national