In speaking to audiences of thousands across the globe, I’m inevitably asked the question, “Mr. AuCoin, what do you think about the economy?” My response is always the same. “Which economy?” This response is usually met with confusion. “What do you mean?”

My simple answer is, “There are two economies that nobody talks about. There is abuyers’ economy and asuppliers’ economy.”

So, your second Legacy Lesson of Wealth is obvious. There are two economies. Now here is the thing:About 97% of all people are buyers who make up the poor and middle class, and only about 3% of the population are suppliers. The 97% get up every day, get dressed, and go to work and spend eight to ten hours a day working. They do this five to six days a week, fifty-two weeks a year for about forty-one years of their lives—doing something they cannot own, cannot sell, nor leave to their families, while making the 3% of the population who are the suppliers and their families wealthy.

So, you may want to consider walking away from the 97% and joining the 3%.

If all you are doing is working and buying, sooner or later you’ll be crying. But if you are working and supplying a product, service, or opportunity, multiplied by a large number of people, you could be dining and flying with the wealthy.

It now all made sense. I now knew what they meant when they said, “The poor get poorer, and the rich get richer.” The poor and middle class go out every day and work and get paid, and they look at the world and say, “What can I buy with this money I’ve made?”

The wealthy work every day, look at the world, and say, “What can I supply to all those who are buying?” It’s pretty obvious that if 97% of all people are sending all their money to the 3% of the people who supply the products, services, and opportunities, then the rich have to get richer. I don’t know about you, but this was one of the most profound things I think I’ve ever figured out. And my course of action was pretty simple.What product, service, or opportunity was I going to supply, and how many people could I supply?

Simply put, there are people who buy books and people who supply books. There are people who buy water and people who supply water. There are people who buy phones, computers, houses, cars, etc., and there are people who supply those. Think about it. If 97% of the population is out buying and sending all their money to the 3% of the people who are supplying products and services, the money only goes one way. The rich inevitably get richer. It’s called a refined study of the obvious, and it has not changed for 6,000 years of recorded history.

So, you may want to seriously consider walking away from the 97% and joining the 3%. By this time, you are probably asking yourself, “What product, service, or opportunity am I going to supply to a large group of people so that I can become rich?” If you want to become wealthy, you will also need to have other people supplying your product, service, or opportunity to a large number of people. With this multiplication of effort and supply, you can truly join the 3%.

I’m sure you’ve heard the adage derived from the Bible—If you give a man a fish, he can eat for a day. If you teach a man to fish, he can feed himself for a lifetime. That is a good saying for the poor and middle class. But the wealthy know, if you own the lake everyone is fishing in, it doesn’t matter to you if people are fishing or teaching others to fish. You’ll still be getting paid, and your family can eat for generations.

Another way to think about this is that everyone gets paid for exactly the same thing, whether you are a doctor, a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), a teacher, a carpenter, a welder, a mechanic, a salesperson, etc. The only way that people are willing to give you their money is if you solve a problem they have.