Now that assets and liabilities have been defined through pictures, it may be easier to
understand my definitions in words. An asset is something that puts money in my pocket. A
liability is something that takes money out of my pocket. This is really all you need to know.
If you want to be rich, simply spend your life buying assets. If you want to be poor or middle
class, spend your life buying liabilities.
Illiteracy, both in words and numbers, is the foundation of financial struggle. If people are
having difficulties financially, there is something that they don’t understand, either in words
or numbers. The rich are rich because they are more literate in different areas than people
who struggle financially. So if you want to be rich and maintain your wealth, it’s important
to be financially literate, in words as well as numbers.
The arrows in the diagrams represent the flow of cash, or “cash flow.” Numbers alone mean
little, just as words out of context mean little. It’s the story that counts. In financial reporting,
reading numbers is looking for the plot, the story of where the cash is flowing. In 80 percent
of most families, the financial story paints a picture of hard work to get ahead. However,
this effort is for naught because they spend their lives buying liabilities instead of assets.
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