Our school system, having been created in the Agrarian Age, believes in homes with no foundation dirt floors are still the rage. So kids graduate from school with virtually no financial foundation. One day, sleepless and deep in debt in Suburbia, living the American Dream, they decide that the answer to their financial problems is to find a way to get rich quick.
我们的学校体系在农业文明时代就建立了，依旧迷信于不打基础就盖房子。孩子们从学校毕业时没有学到一点有关财务的基础知识。一天，当做着美国梦的那些人，在郊区的小房子里因债务的问题而无法入睡时，他们认定解决财务问题的方法就是快点发财。
Construction on the skyscraper begins. It goes up quickly, and soon, instead of the Empire State Building, we have the Leaning Tower of Suburbia. The sleepless nights return.
于是建造摩天大楼的工作开始了。虽然进展得很快，但不久就会发现，他们建造的不是帝国大厦，而是一座斜塔。于是不眠之夜又回来了。

As for Mike and me in our adult years, both of our choices were possible because we were taught to pour a strong financial foundation when we were just kids.
我和迈克在成年以后可以有多种选择，因为我们从小就被教导要打下坚实的财务知识基础。
Now, accounting is possibly the most boring subject in the world. It also could be the most confusing. But if you want to be rich long-term, it could be the most important subject. The question is how do you take a boring and confusing subject and teach it to kids. The answer is make it simple.
现在，会计可能是世界上最乏味的学科了，也可能是最让人弄不明白的学科。但如果你想一直富有下去，它又可能是最重要的学科。问题是，你怎样才能接受这门乏味而晦涩的学科并把它教给你的孩子呢？那就是先用图表来教吧。
My rich dad poured a strong financial foundation for Mike and me. Since we were just kids, he created a simple way to teach us. For years he only drew pictures and used the words. Mike and I understood the simple drawings, the jargon, the movement of money, and then in later years, rich dad began adding numbers.
富爸爸为我和迈克打下了牢固的财务知识基础。由于当时我们只是孩子，富爸爸就发明了一种简单的方法来教我们。有好几年他只是用一些图和词语讲课。我们弄懂了那些简单的图和术语，以及它们表现出的钱的运动规律。在之后几年中，富爸爸开始加入数字。
Most importantly, you must know the difference between an asset and a liability, and buy assets.
最重要的是，你必须明白资产和负债的区别，并且购买资产。
If you want to be rich, this is all you need to know. It is rule number one. It is the only rule. This may sound absurdly simple, but most people have no idea how profound this rule is. Most people struggle financially because they do not know the difference between an asset and a liability.
如果你想致富，这一点你必须知道。这就是第一条规则，也是唯一一条规则。它听起来似乎简单得有些荒谬，但大多数人并不知道这条规则有多么深奥，他们就是因为不清楚资产与负债之间的区别才在财务问题中苦苦挣扎。
“Rich people acquire assets. The poor and middle class acquire liabilities but they think they are assets”
“富人获得资产，而穷人和中产阶级获得负债，只不过他们以为那些负债就是资产。”
When rich dad explained this to Mike and me, we thought he was kidding. Here we were, nearly teenagers and waiting for the secret to getting rich, and this was his answer. It was so simple that we had to stop for a long time to think about it.
当富爸爸向我和迈克解释这些概念时，我们以为他是在开玩笑。当时，两个不到10岁的小孩正等着听致富的秘诀，而得到的却是这样的答案。这个答案是如此简单以致我们不得不花很长时间思考它。