Quick Wealth Often Disappears

For those of you new to Free Money Finance, I post on The Bible and Money every Sunday. Here's why.

Here's a verse from the Bible that contrasts the quick versus the slow way to get rich -- and the results from each:

Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows over time. Proverbs 13:11

Here's my take on this verse:

1. Frequent examples of getting rich quickly and it not working out: lottery winners.

2. I think people who do get rich quick often lose much of their wealth because they haven't had time to develop the skills necessary to manage money successfully. In addition, many of them start to spend wildly thinking they have all the money in the world. They don't seem to realize that even a fortune can be spent rather easily. Finally, they also probably don't put as much value on their quick-gotten wealth since they didn't earn it.

3. On the other hand, those that earn their money over time do develop skills to handle money correctly and they value it more since it was earned with their own hard work.

While I'd love to get rich quick (and think I have the skills/personality to handle it), I'm currently on the "slow" method and, so far, it's working for me.

Any other thoughts on this subject?

Comments

["Mo" Money]

Many sports figures have proven this to be true. As you said they do not have the skills to handle the money and if they hire someone they misappropriate the money.

[James]

It's kind of funny because the people that know how to handle money, are exactly those who don't buy lottery tickets.

[Zombie Money]

Yes the first thought that popped to my head was lotto winners.

[LotharBot]

If you have some crazy surgery that takes a bunch of weight off, but you keep up the same habits that put on the weight in the first place, you're going to end up fat in a few years. If you end up injured and gain weight over time because you're immobile, you'll take the weight off once you're on your feet again, provided the injury isn't so extreme that you never recover. The only way you'll change your weight long-term is to change your habits long-term.

The same is true for wealth. If you spend your money unwisely, lotto winnings, inheritance, etc. will disappear quickly and you'll be back to living paycheck to paycheck. If you spend your money wisely (which means, among other things, you DON'T BUY LOTTO TICKETS) you'll recover just fine from unexpected costs, provided they're not too extreme.

With both weight and wealth, your habits are far more important than all but the most extreme one-time events.

[Jenny]

I find it hilarious that the ad accompanying this post in my RSS reader featured a cartoon guy in glasses with the statement, "I'm rich. You're not. Click here to find out how I make $3 million a year!"