The employee who would not work overtime.

In the 1970's I was the software manager, (software back then meant clothing), for a discount retailer called Globe (like a K-Mart or Target today).

We had a very good hard working employee in the men's wear department whom I wanted to promote to department manager at a nice increase in pay. Every time I asked him to work overtime or work an extra day, he turned me down. Each time I asked him to consider the department managers job he said no. Finally I asked him to have lunch with me and quizzed him as to why he was turning down the extra work, and promotion.

I was informed that his job was an end to his means. He needed the Job because it allowed him to show an income when applying for loans to buy houses and, if he worked more hours, he would not have enough time to fix up the houses before the next payment would be due and the lost rental income would cost him more than the overtime pay. He had seven houses then and, when he got the number up to twelve houses, he was planning to quit his job at the store in order to work on his rental business full time. I never forgot that lunch.

That was then, then Is now.

I am a history buff. I like to study history of the 19th century. What I have learned from business books of that era is that not much has changed in the business world. The skills and traits it took during the last century to get ahead are still needed today.

This advice is from a business book copyright 1886: Gain knowledge, maintain your honesty, be a hard worker, gain capital, have confidence, protect your integrity, practice perseverance, attend to your duty, be economical, avoid litigation, be polite and affable, be slow to anger, hone your skills, and be alert to opportunity.

The only real difference today is that the speed of change has greatly increased and it has gotten easier.

Getting rich requires capital, information and skill.

It is actually easier today to get started. When I wanted to buy my first rental house I had to first save up the down payment. I needed a good credit rating and I had to prove to the banker that I could make the payments without relying on the rental income.

The access to capital is much easier today. My 19-year-old daughter has credit cards that would allow her to raise more then $10,000 and she is still in college with only a part time job.

In the past, the competitive advantage that the rich had over you was their access to information and capital. Today that access to information via the Internet is at your fingertips and access to capital is readily available to people with good credit.

Today all the barriers are down. There is no excuse left. True, it is easer to make money if you have money to work with, but if you have a good credit rating, you have access to capital and if you have an Internet connection, you have access to information. Getting rich requires capital, information, skill and knowledge. You must provide the skill in your use of the available capital and information. As you move down that road Towards Wealth and begin to accumulate money making assets, your access to larger pools of capital will increase, usually in proportion to your skill level.

We are living in exciting times.