If you’re educated about how money works, you gain power over it and can begin building wealth.

      Financial literacy allows you to not fear money matters, and to see the real value of money. True wealth goes way beyond and is measured by more than cash. Success in life is more than financial success. This is what I learned when I was growing up, and it’s my mission to teach this message to as many young people as I can so that the next generations will be responsible and knowledgeable—and powerful—when it comes to money.

       School Is Just the Beginning

      Unless you’re planning to become a doctor or lawyer or go into a profession that requires a special degree, you may not need to go to any formal training programs after high school or college to earn money if you look for great learning opportunities in a job. In fact, you can be paid to learn in the real world instead of paying high tuition fees to learn in a classroom setting. Your financial education will train you on the job.

      Am I saying that education isn’t important? Not at all. Education is the foundation of success. I’m saying that school is just one place to learn. We go to school to learn scholastic skills and professional skills. For the most part, we learn financial skills out in the real world.

      Remember when you were first learning to ride a bike? Chances are, you started with training wheels and then one day you were ready for a two-wheeler. Perhaps someone held the bike for you until you felt steady—and then let go. You might have wobbled a few times or even fallen off once or twice. But most likely, you got back on the bike and tried until you finally learned to balance, through trial and error and brain power.

      Wouldn’t it be funny if your parents had taken you to a special bike-riding school? It would have been a waste of their money. There are things you learn in school and other things you learn in life—like how to walk, tie your shoes, ride a bike, and most things that have to do with money.

      A new type of education is what I’m talking about. The best doctor in the world might have a great medical education, but not know anything when it comes to finances. He or she might save a life on the operating table, but have trouble running an office that makes money.

      Amazing, isn’t it, to think that you might be getting knowledge that your doctor, or your parents, might not have? Now that’s power!

       PART ONE

       THE LANGUAGE OF MONEY