That morning at 8 AM, Robert went over to Mike’s house. Mike’s dad had already been working for over an hour. As Robert arrived, he saw one of the construction supervisors driving off. Inside the house, Robert noticed a few other adults - some managed restaurants, others helped run warehouses. All of them worked for Mike’s dad.
Robert was surprised. He asked, “Does this happen all the time?”
Mike said, “Pretty often.”
Then came the big moment. Mike’s dad came out to the back porch and sat with them.
He looked at Robert and said, “So you want to learn to make money?”
Robert nodded.
“Alright. Here’s my offer,” Mike’s dad continued. “You work for me, I teach you. You don’t work, I don’t teach. I don’t do classroom lessons. I teach by experience. Take it or leave it.”
Robert, curious but unsure, asked if he could at least ask a question.
“No,” Mike’s dad said bluntly. “Decide now. That’s how life works. Opportunities don’t wait.”
Robert and Mike looked at each other and both said, “We’ll take it.”
“Good,” Mike’s dad replied. “You start today. You’ll work 3 hours every Saturday at my small store. I’ll pay you 10 cents an hour.”
Robert hesitated for a second,
“But I have a softball game today…”
Mike’s dad just said calmly, “Take it or leave it.”
Robert took it.
And that small decision, choosing to work and learn instead of play - marked the beginning of a lifelong journey with lessons about money, mindset, and success. It was also the day Robert truly met his Rich Dad - the man who would teach him how wealth is built from the inside out.
The 30-Cent Lesson Begins
Not long after accepting the offer, Robert and Mike were put to work. By 9 a.m. on that first Saturday, they were already dusting shelves at one of the small grocery stores owned by Mike’s dad.
Their boss? A kind lady named Mrs. Martin. She was warm and gentle, often saying the boys reminded her of her own sons - but she also meant business. For three hours, the boys dusted every single can on the shelves, carefully restacking each one. It was boring, repetitive work.
Mike’s dad, who Robert later called his "rich dad," owned nine of these shops - simple neighborhood stores where people picked up daily essentials. But since this was Hawaii before airconditioning, the store doors stayed wide open, and dust from the roads constantly blew inside.
That meant dusting… never stopped.
For three Saturdays, the routine didn’t change. Work from 9 to noon. Then Mrs. Martin would hand them three dimes each - 30 cents for three hours of work.
Even as a 9-year-old in the 1950s, Robert knew that wasn’t much. He’d spend it on a comic book and head home, wondering if this was really how “learning to make money” was supposed to feel.
By the fourth week, Robert had enough.
“I’m quitting,” he told Mike one afternoon. “School is boring, and now Saturdays are boring too. And for what? Thirty cents?”
Mike didn’t argue. He just smiled.
“What’s funny?” Robert snapped, clearly frustrated.
Mike replied calmly, “My dad said this would happen. He told me to bring you to him when you were ready to quit.”
“Wait - what? He knew I’d get tired of this?”
“Kind of,” said Mike. “He teaches differently than your dad. Your parents explain everything. My dad? He lets you experience it first.”
It suddenly clicked. This wasn’t about making 30 cents. It was about learning something bigger.
And now that Robert was fed up, Mike’s dad - the “Rich Dad” - was ready to really begin teaching.
What came next? The real money lesson was just around the corner
