What if you really become very rich all of a sudden?
Will that actually change the you now? Will you be greedier? Or will you change your lifestyle to only look at the luxurious items? Will you forget your family members who are not as rich or even friends? Will you prefer to be friends with the rich and famous?
Or will you still be the same you. Think about it.
Honestly, I believe most of us will change if we do happen to become rich all of a sudden, one way or another. The question here is how much will we change? One thing I do notice is that people who grow their wealth slowly tend not to change too much. Most of them are still themselves since the process of getting rich is one which they can handle. On the other hand, people who become very lucky all of a sudden and get some windfall such as a big lottery win, tend to change the most. Reason is simple, they are just not used to the large amount of money and most do not know what to do with them except to spend, spend and spend. It’s just a too big a change for them. Maybe that is why most of the lottery winners couldn’t retain their fortune during the first 5 years.
Let me give you 2 real life examples:
- A businessman who built his fortune from scratch. He came from a very poor family where food used to be a problem. He dresses like a normal person – no designers’ clothings, no branded perfumes or accessories. He hangs around with common folks more often than he hangs around with his rich business ‘friends’. And he’s never arrogant. He approached a friend of mine who used to be a banker to ask for investment tips even though he already knows most of the things. Oh, and he never reject my friend when it comes to donations.
- A chicken rice stall owner who used to have pretty good business and was a very friendly person until the day he won a big lottery ticket – 3 or 4 million in RM, if not wrong. He started to become very arrogant. He closed down his shop, and went on for expensive holidays and he ignored his relatives and friends who were too poor for him. This guy also approached my banker friend to ask for investment tips. My friend told him to invest in FD or bond since he wasn’t interested in stocks. He refused to listen. 3 months later, he came back to the bank to find my friend but this time, he wanted to borrow money from the bank. He gambled away his fortune in 3 months.
Fact is, I believe that most people can’t deal with drastic changes very well and becoming rich all of a sudden is one of those changes. If you can handle it well, then good but if you can’t, you may end up losing everything including those things that you used to have before you’re rich. Doesn’t sound very appealing eh?
So the next time you dream of becoming rich all of a sudden, think about it again. It’s definitely a good thing at first look but perhaps, it is not a change which you really want.
Conclusion (in case you’re confused with the crap I’ve been writing above), the message I want to deliver here is simple. Appreciate the things you have now and be yourself, whether or not you become rich in the future. Dream is dream but the things you have now is the reality that you must learn to appreciate.
p/s…. if you really want to dream of getting rich, then at least think about the reasons WHY you want to be rich. Maybe there are already things which you can accomplish without becoming rich.
There’s a 3rd kind. Got rich quick, holds on to his wealth, becomes very stingy, becomes suspicious of everyone and slams the door on all including parents and good friends. U can find that in many canto-dramas, hehe.
@Damien Tan
And getting too paranoid that he ends up becoming crazy
For the chicken rice guy who strike lottery, I won’t think that the millionaire money will outlast him, if he does not have the slightest idea of financial education. He will spend frenzily.
min dfin´s last blog ..House problem to be solved!
@min dfin
Only those who build their wealth from scratch do.
True. In fact, there are a lot of rich people who do not know how to manage their money wisely.
Well, sticking around with snobs only will only bring pressure to yourself I think, because you’ll constantly feel the need to impress, and to look over your shoulder, for such friends are fair weathered ones. Not the kind of people I would like to restrict myself to, should I win the lottery.
The Envoy´s last blog ..Eid ul-Fitr
@The Envoy
That is why people always say that friends play an important part of our life
Sudden wealth will definitely cause temptations, knowing with the extra cash you could finally get what you “want” while all along you’re doing fine with the things you “need”. Spending lavishly, bearing the money-is-no-problem mentality and before you knew it, it’s gone.
I used to asked my friends, what would you do if you hit a 20mil jackpot? Most of them would answer, buy house, buy car, invest in business or put in bank to gain interest. Other than that, totally clueless.
@Justin
hahaha, yeap. u’re right. most people are clueless of what they gonna do if they have 20 mill except to buy all the wants.
and the rest? well, they will keep upgrading their wants…ferrari….bungalows…and sooner or later, their wants will become so expensive that their remaining $$ will not be able to pay for those things.
then they choose to gamble in order to gain more money.