Kim and I are teaching a financial calculator course later this month. Yesterday, an investor called to ask whether he really needed to take the course. I explained that a contractor’s most important tool is a hammer, a NASCAR driver’s most important tool is a racecar, and a real estate investor’s most important tool is a financial calculator.

After a bit of discussion, the investor said he’d pass on the course because it would be a waste of time. Out of curiosity, I asked how many real estate investing seminars he attended each year. His answer wasn’t surprising: None.

Here’s the funny thing: Even though I teach a financial calculator course, want to guess where Kim and I are this weekend? We’re in Vegas attending Gary Johnston’s Money Not Math seminar – it’s a three-day intensive financial calculator course.

I already can make a financial calculator sing and dance. For years, I’ve taught folks how to use them. So why do I “waste my time” taking financial calculator classes? Seriously, I want you to answer this question.

Let’s look at the bigger picture. Kim and I know a lot of real estate investors around the country. After getting a bit of training in the beginning, many quit taking classes after the first year or two. The number one excuse they give is: “I don’t have the time.” The result is that most just bump along the bottom, never coming close to reaching their full potential as investors and wealth builders.

On the other hand, Kim and I know a small group of real estate investing rock stars. These folks are knocking it out of the park year after year. What’s their secret? They, of course, meet with sellers on a regular basis – this is the alpha and omega of successful real estate investing. But in addition, they constantly attend seminars taught by the best real estate investing teachers.

Think of it this way: To get a basic education – a high school diploma – how many hours did you spend learning? Let’s see: seven hours a day multiplied by five days a week multiplied by 20 days a month multiplied by nine months a year, multiplied by 12 years, equals 75,600 hours (and this doesn’t include homework and extra curricular activities.

Here’s the thing: Much of what you were taught in school is near worthless in the real world, and the things that you really needed to learn about – like how to build wealth and become financially free – were never discussed. When did government educators decide that wealth building was a taboo subject?

Ok, off the soapbox and back to the topic. You spent 75,600 hours getting a basic education. How many hours did you spend last year learning how to become financially free? Sadly, most Americans – the so-called 99 percenters – spent more time standing in line waiting to buy lottery tickets than they spent learning how to build wealth.

Each year, Kim and I attend 10 to 12 seminars. In addition, we get together with other real estate investors 30 to 40 times a year to discuss creative deal structuring and financing.

We’re constantly learning new and better ways to construct win-win deals.

To reach your full potential, you must be constantly learning – and learning from folks who are already financially free.

Bill and Kim’s North Georgia Real Estate Investors Association meets on the second Thursday of each month, from 7 to 9 p.m., at the Hilton Garden Inn off Main Street in Cartersville, Georgia. For more info, go to REIoutpost.com.