It starts when we’re at school, where we get little or no education on money matters. The result: millions of financially illiterate people who are at the mercy of others who are financially intelligent.

Lack of knowledge is compounded by psychological issues. It’s hard to be logical about something - money - that goes to the core of our survival. Fear means we avoid knowing the true state of our spending and income patterns.

Robert Kiyosaki’s bestselling book Cashflow Quadrant offers a way out. He describes how everyone lives out of one of four financial ‘quadrants’ which describe both a mindset and a way of making money.

In each quadrant is a type. In the first is the Employee, who works for the system. When the Employee needs money, he or she automatically looks for a job. Their key word is ‘security’ and they believe a waged position provides this.

The Self-Employed type will do something to make money on their own. Their key words are ‘perfectionism’ and ‘control’. They have to make sure things are done their way. Thanks to this, their operations remain small.

Then there’s the Business Owner type, who will start or buy a business that generates money, and stay involved with it. Finally: the Investor, who gets wealthy by putting money into a system that will produce more money without the need for direct involvement.

With the poor and middle class, most of what they earn comes from a job. As soon as money is received, it goes out again for expenses and debts. Most of the income of the rich comes from assets. They pay for everything via the cash generated by the assets.

The middle class cashflow pattern is considered ‘normal’ in our society. Outwardly it makes you look like you are doing well (cars, a house, vacations) but in actuality you live from month to month. If you stopped working, for how long could you survive?

This was the norm for the Industrial Age, but in the Information Age, it is madness to rely for most of your income on a wage. To win back your time and get control of your financial destiny, money has to come from cash-generating assets.

To the above you will probably say, ‘Yes, but I do own an asset – my house!’