Page 120 - Rich Dad Poor Dad for Teens: The Secrets about Money--That You Don't Learn in School!

Don't get me wrong. It's probably a better portfolio than more than 70
percent of the population, and that's frightening. Because a safe portfolio is
a lot better than no portfolio. It's a great portfolio for someone who loves

safely. But playing it safe and going “balanced” on your investment
portfolio is not the way successful investors play the game. If you have
little money and you want to be rich, you must first be “focused,” not
“balanced.” If you look at anyone successful, at the start they were not
balanced. Balanced people go nowhere. They stay in one spot. To make
progress, you must first go unbalanced. Just look at how you make progress
walking.

Thomas Edison was not balanced. He was focused. Bill Gates was not
balanced. He was focused. Donald Trump is focused. George Soros is
focused. George Patton did not take his tanks wide. He focused them and
blew through the weak spots in the German line. The French went wide
with the Maginot Line, and you know what happened to them.
If you have any desire of being rich, you must focus. Put a lot of your

eggs in a few baskets. Do not do what poor and middle class people do: put
their few eggs in many baskets.
If you hate losing, play it safe. If losing makes you weak, play it safe.
Go with balanced investments. If you're over 25 years old and are terrified
of taking risks, don't change. Play it safe, but start early. Start accumulating
your nest egg early because it will take time.
But if you have dreams of freedom-of getting out of the rat race- the

first question to ask yourself is, “How do I respond to failure?” If failure
inspires you to win, maybe you should go for it-but only maybe. If failure
makes you weak or causes you to throw temper tantrums-like spoiled brats
who call an attorney to file a lawsuit every time something does not go their
way-then play it safe. Keep your daytime job. Or buy bonds or mutual
funds. But remember, there is risk in those financial instruments also, even

though they are safer.
I say all this, mentioning Texas and Fran Tarkenton, because stacking
the asset column is easy. It's really a low-aptitude game. It doesn't take
much education. Fifth-grade math will do. But staking the asset column 'J is
a high-attitude game. It takes guts, patience and a great attitude toward
failure. Losers avoid failing. And failure turns losers into winners.'' Just
remember the Alamo.