The question really is:
Who doesn't want to be a millionaire?

Today the most popular show on television is Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? It is a worldwide success in many countries, with different hosts in different countries. Regis Philbin is the host of the show in America. Regis was famous before the show, but has become a megastar as a result of the program. The game show is so powerful that it dominates its time slot on nationwide television. Other networks have created imitators, such as Greed, Survivor, and others... but so far no one has been able to top Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? So much fixation on shows about money, getting rich, dot-com millionaires, the stock market, and the huge lottery payouts leads us to the question, "Who doesn't want to be a millionaire?"

It is possible to win a million dollars on a game show. It is also possible to win millions of dollars through the lottery. And it is possible to become a millionaire with one hot tip on a dot-com IPO. Then you could retire rich for the rest of your life. In fact, there are more ways to become rich today than in any other time in our history. Maybe that is why there is such an international frenzy over the idea of getting rich-- and the quicker the better.

I was recently on television talking about my book, Rich Dad Poor Dad. The interviewer asked, "Come on, why don't you tell us the truth? Didn't you write your book to take advantage of this get-rich-quick craze that is sweeping the nation?"

Her question really surprised me, and I was almost at a loss for words. Finally, after regaining my poise, I replied, "You know, I never saw it that way. I can see why you would think I would write a book just for that reason. I wish I could say I was that smart. Smart enough to time my book for just this moment in history, but I am afraid I am not that smart. I wrote this book simply because I wanted to tell the story of the money lessons I learned from two dads. In fact, when I first wrote the book in 1997 every bookstore and book distributor we approached turned down the book. In 1997, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? was not yet a TV show." I paused, collected my thoughts, and said, "In fact, my book actually represents the exact opposite message of these game shows, dot-com millionaires, and lotteries." Again I paused, thinking for a moment, and then continued, "There is indeed a frenzy today about getting rich quick, and while my book is about getting rich, it is not about getting rich quick."

The commentator nodded and grinned a skeptical grin. "So if you are not part of this get-rich-quick mania, then what are you? Get rich slowly?"

I could feel her sarcasm, and it challenged me. In front of millions of viewers I had to try to keep my cool. So I forced a chuckle in response to her barbed comment and said, "No, my book is not about getting rich quickly or getting rich slowly." I then smiled and waited for her to ask me the next question. The silence was deadly, but I held my ground as calmly as possible, waiting for her to make the next move.

She smiled and asked, "So what is your book about?"

I grinned and replied, "It is about the price of getting rich."

"The price?" she replied. "What do you mean by the price?"

As she asked the question, the producer signaled to her that we were out of time. She then urged me to hurry with my answer, and I ended the interview by saying, "Most everyone wants to get rich. But the problem is, only a few people are willing to pay the price."

The TV interview was over. The host thanked me, and they cut to the final commercial. The problem was, I never answered what I think the price of becoming a millionaire is. This book answers the question that was not answered on that television interview.

WHO PAYS THE PRICE?

The US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare tracked people from age 20 to 65. Their findings were as follows:

Out of every 100 people studied, by age 65:

1 was wealthy

4 were well-off

5 were still working because they had to

54 were living on family or government support

36 were dead

With the economic boom of the last ten years, there will be an increase in the number of wealthy and well-off. Yet the question remains, what did the top 5 percent who are rich or well-off do that the others did not? What was the difference in price the 5 percent paid that the others did not pay?

DOES A BIG HOUSE MEAN YOU'RE RICH?

When I was young, my rich dad drove me past a classmate's house, located in a very rich neighborhood. I asked Rich Dad if my classmate's dad was rich. Rich Dad chuckled, and responded, "A high-income job, a big house, nice cars, and lavish vacations do not mean you're rich. In fact it could mean exactly the opposite. A lavish lifestyle does not mean you're smart or well educated. It could mean exactly the opposite."

Most of us are wise enough to understand what Rich Dad meant by that statement. Yet I think one of the reasons so many people watch the TV game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? or faithfully play the lottery is because they, too, would like to have a nice big house, expensive cars, and all the other toys that money can buy. While it is possible to gain millions by winning a game show or lottery, in reality, the chances are extremely slim. Unfortunately, the lottery and these game shows send the wrong message about how the rich get that way. Just as a big house does not necessarily mean you're rich, sitting around watching a game show, or betting on your lucky numbers, is not the price that most of the top 1 percent paid to become rich.

WHAT IS THE PRICE OF BECOMING A MILLIONAIRE?

There are many different ways to become rich. Winning the lottery or winning a game show are examples. You can also become rich by being cheap, becoming a crook, or even marrying a millionaire. Many people look for millionaires to marry. In fact the Marry a Millionaire game show turned into quite an embarrassment for the network that sponsored it. With any method of attaining great wealth, there is a price, and the price is not always measured in money.

The price for sitting around and watching game shows and betting on the lottery is that the vast majority of the viewers will never become rich... and that is a very steep price to pay. There are better ways to become rich, with much better odds, but most people are not willing to pay the price. In fact, there are some ways of becoming rich in which the odds are in the person's favor, almost guaranteeing that a person will become rich, but again the problem is most people are not willing to pay the price. And that is why, according to the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, only 1 out of 100 people actually become rich by age 65, in the richest country in the world. They want to be millionaires, but they are not willing to pay the price.

So what did my rich dad mean by the price? Using a different example to explain the concept of price best explains this idea. So let us say, for example, that I said, "I wish I had a body like Arnold Schwarzenegger."Well, the first thing most of you would say to me is, "Put on your running shoes, run five miles a day, go to the gym for three hours a day, and stop stuffing your face with pizza." To which I would say, "Is there another way to have a body like Arnold's?" That is what I mean by the price. Millions of people would like to have a great body, but few people are willing to pay the price. And that is why ads that promise, "You will lose weight and eat all you want. Just take this little magic pill" or "You can look like this gorgeous model without exercise or dieting" make so much money. Whether it's money, a sexy body, great relationships, happiness, or whatever else we as humans have a desire for, Madison Avenue will come up with an ad campaign that promises the quick and easy way to get what you want. However, most of the products the ads promote do not work, not because of the products, but because the people who buy them are not willing to do the work (or pay the price).

I often refer to the $385 real-estate-investment course I purchased from a television infomercial many years ago. I remember sitting at home surfing the channels when I came across this infomercial. The ad encouraged me to come to a free evening seminar at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, a hotel on the beach at Waikiki right next to the condominium where I lived. I called to make my reservation for the free seminar; attended the free seminar; and then signed up for the 385-dollar weekend seminar. I was still in the Marine Corps at that time, so I invited a fellow Marine pilot to go with me to the weekend seminar. He hated the seminar, called it a complete rip-off, a waste of time, and asked for his money back. Back at the squadron, he said to me, "I knew it was going to be a rip-off. I should never have listened to you."

My experience was completely different. I left the seminar, took the books and tapes, read and listened to them, and have made millions of dollars from the information I learned from that seminar. As a friend of mine said to me a number of years later, "The problem with your friend was that he was too smart and did not get anything from the course. You were stupid enough to believe the instructor and went out and did what he taught you."

Today, I continue to recommend that people sign up for seminars to learn the basics of buying real estate, starting a business, investing in stocks, or whatever. I often hear back from the audience, "But what if the course is lousy. What if I get ripped off? What if I don't learn anything? Besides, I don't want to fix toilets or have midnight phone calls from tenants." When I hear such comments, I usually reply, "Then it is best you do not attend the seminar. The seminar will definitely be a rip-off."

In my experience, many people are looking for the answers that will make their lives better in some way. The problem is when they find the answer they don't like it... just as I don't like the answer, "Stop stuffing your face with pizza and start pumping iron for three hours day." In other words, until I like the answer I'm getting, I don't have a prayer of developing a body like Arnold Schwarzenegger's. The reason most people will never become rich is simply because they don't like the answers they are getting. And in my opinion, it has little to do with the answer; it is the price that is attached to the answer that the person really does not like. As Rich Dad said, "Most people want to get rich. They just don't want to pay the price."

Now, in my first eBook, I discuss the price of becoming rich without being cheap, immoral, crooked, or needing to marry a rich person. You will learn how to be rich and still enjoy a very rich lifestyle. But there is a price... and as my rich dad often said to me, "The price is not always measured in money." I share the answers and the price I paid. If you don't like my answers or my rich dad's answers, remember there is more than one way to become rich... there will always be a new lottery and game shows that ask the question, "Who wants to be a millionaire?"

And the question is:

Just as Regis asks every contestant a series of questions, at the end of every chapter there will be a question or series of questions, testing your desire to see if you really want to be a millionaire.

Final answer?