For the most part, people's perspectives on money fall into one of two categories. First, you have those who are so concerned about money that the put an inordinate amount of time and money into their work, sacrificing important facets of their lives to further their career. At the other extreme, you've got the people that claim not to care about money whatsoever - disenchanted with the workaday world, these people tell themselves that they are perfectly fine without money in the bank.

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."

Kiyosaki should know - he's been on both sides of the financial fence. In the '80s, he was so down-and-out that he spent a few weeks living in a car, before moving on to the basement of a friend, in which he lived for almost a year. He and his wife didn't have steady work, only odd jobs here and there, as they were looking for riches, not security.

After 4 more years they did become rich - millionaires, in fact.

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.

One thing a job will never give you is extra time with loved ones. In fact, it will take away as much of that precious time as you allow it to.

Everyone sees the Catch 22, worrying that if they spend the time working to make enough money to do the things they want to do, they won't have time to do those things. That is true. Working is not the answer. Making your money work, preferably in a solid investment like real estate, is the answer.

Kiyosaki seen been at that crossroads himself. "Money is important, but I did not want to spend my life working for it," he says in his Rich Dad series. Luckily he had the benefit of that rich dad's knowledge of how the financial world works to see him through.

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.

It's a simple principle; as an employee, you're working for money, but an investor, money works for you. All you have to do to start out is take some of the money you've made as an employer and move it into real estate. This is all it takes to start paving the way to a bright financial future, in which your wealth is constantly growing without you having to lift a finger, leaving you free to live life and spend time with loved ones.

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 Minnesota Realtor that uses the Maple Grove MLS listings to help her clients to find and purchase Maple Grove realty and other Twin Cities properties.