Page 68 - Why We Want You To Be Rich - Donald Trump, Robert Kiyosaki.pdf

62 I CHAPTER FOUR

Bad Times Can Make You Rich

The good news was, the challenge ofa contracting economy actually
made me a better salesman. Even though I did not make much money back
then, my sales training still pays off today. My businesses are successful
because I can sell - and because I understand the importance of sales and
marketing. In tough economic times, that can giveyou an edge. As Donald
Trump and I often say, "Ifyou are in business, you need to learn how to sell."

Increasing My Financial IQ

Since oil was in short supply, my rich dad suggested I learn more about
the oil industry. I had been with Standard Oil from 1966 to 1969 as an
apprentice and a ship's officer,a third mate on their oil tankers. Since I had
an interest in oil, I found it easy to learn more about it.
Once I began to win as a sales rep for Xerox, in order to learn more
about oil, I took apart-time position with an oil company out ofOklahoma
that wasselling oil and gas tax shelters. Back in those days,an investor could
invest $100,000 and receive a 4-to-1 tax break on his or her investment. In
this example, a $100,000 investment was worth $400,000 in tax write-offs.
So the investor made more money from the oil production and paid much
less in taxes - one reason why the rich got richer.
Selling these leveraged oil and gas tax shelters during this period ofhigh
oil prices taught me some important lessons. Lesson number one was that
not allbusinesseswere hurting because ofthe oil crisis.My eyeswere opened
to the reality that many people were getting richer and richer while others
were getting poorer. With that realization, my financial IQ went up - I
saw another world. After my experience selling Xerox copiers to businesses
and then selling tax shelters to the rich in my spare time, I decided I wanted
to be rich.

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