When it comes to thinking about money, people always seem to fall into one of two camps: first, there are the so-called "workaholics," employees who are so dedicated to their jobs that they are more than willing to work overtime, bring business home with them, and sometimes even give their families short shrift when the office demands it. On the other hand you have the "slackers," who see the workaholic lifestyle as needless drudgery and have themselves convinced that money isn't all that important anyways.

Robert Kiyosaki, author of the Rich Dad book series, has money and he doesn't agree. "Anyone who says money isn't important obviously has not been without it long," he says in his book "Cash Flow Quadrant."

One would do well to heed Kiyosaki's words on these matters, because although he is now rich, he does know what it feels like to be flat broke-- as a matter of fact, he spent several weeks in 1985 living in his car. After that, Kiyosaki and his wife moved into the basement of a friend, where they lived for about a year. During this time, they took small jobs here and there but didn't look for steady careers, as security wasn't what they were really after-- they wanted to be rich.

Today, Robert Kiyosaki and his wife are millionaires.

While money is important, it isn't important in and of itself, and that is why Kiyosaki and his wife didn't rush out to look for the "good" jobs they both could have gotten. It's important because it provides for your basic needs and, if you have enough of it, it can give you time to be with your loved ones and do the things in life that truly make you happy.

Remember that no career in the world will give you the things that truly make life worth living, such as a fulfilling home life and time with your family. All money can do is grant you the resources to pursue what makes you happy.

At times it seems like a no-win situation; it takes so long to make the money you need in order to get what you want out of life that you'll never actually have the time to do the things you've always dreamed of. As an employee, this really can be an unanswerable problem; as an investor with money working for you, it's much easier to keep your priorities in order.

Kiyosaki has been there. In his words, "Money is important, but I did not want to spend my life working for it." When standing at this fork in the road, the wisdom that Kiyosaki gained from his time with his "Rich Dad" served him well.

He knew that there was a way to be a responsible provider for his family without spending most of his waking life working. He knew the secret was become an investor.

As a real estate investor, you will be taking the money from the 'E' quadrant of Kiyosaki's famous diagram and transferring it to the 'I' quadrant. By doing this, you start your money working for you. By putting your money to work for you in this fashion, you've taken the first step toward a lifestyle in which work is not a necessity. Your money is making money and you didn't have to lift a finger for those extra dollars.

So start now-- investing in property doesn't just multiply wealth; it also rewards you with more time that you can spend doing the things you love. Laying the groundwork for a career in real estate investing paves the way for a future in which money can actually bring you happiness.

Alexandria P. Anderson is a licensed MN Realtor that helps people to find and purchase Minnesota Condos as well as Condos for sale in Minnesota.