"You Just Won $10 Million!" Does Sudden Wealth Bring Arrogance to the Surface?
Human nature is fascinating!
One of the particular facets that has long fascinated me is how people behave when they "suddenly" have money. I don't mean just a nice bonus from work, but a serious amount of money.
Sure, many have probably seen or read about the stereotype of some down and out person winning $10 million in the lottery, living larger than life" for a few years and then suddenly having to declare bankruptcy.
Sometimes, it seems almost like a given. It would be easy to blame "ignorance," but truth is that most people — rich and poor alike — are actually never taught basic money management skills. Society treats money as one of those "taboo" topics that we just don't talk about. As a result, it may be a bit much to expect someone to instinctively understand how to manage a sudden windfall of $10 million.
But that's not really what this post is about.
I am more interested in the psychological changes people with sudden windfalls undergo. Specifically, the instances where someone acts as if simply having seven figures in their bank account somehow suddenly makes them "better" and "more important" than they were, just three months ago when they had nothing and were depending on food stamps.
Seems like an uncomfortably frequent occurrence that money turns otherwise decent people into arrogant assholes.
But why?
As best I can tell, you are looking at people who have essentially spent their lives feeling power-less interpreting that wealth somehow is an automatic ticket to being power-ful.
Except... that really isn't true, is it?
Most are still ultimately power-less, except with a fat bank account!
Simply throwing your weight around and "acting superior" to others does not make a person more powerful.
"So what would YOU do, if you suddenly had $10 million?"
For starters, I wouldn't tell anyone aside from the handful of people who had to know, for legal and financial reasons. For seconds, I'd try to roll all of it into some kind of revocable trust that dissociated my name from it to the greatest degree possible, allowable by law. Then I'd invest for principal preservation and just enough liquid yield to ensure that the daily cost of living is thoroughly covered and then I'd go about living the otherwise fairly normal life I already live... except I'd be able to just focus on all the creative things that hold my interest and that I love to do.
Some might think that extremely boring.
And most people would do "nothing of the sort."
"What's the point of having a lot of money if you're not going to SPEND it?"
Which brings us back to the many different perceptions of what money/wealth actually IS; what it REPRESENTS. Personally speaking, it has always meant security. And to a degree, freedom. Mindlessly squandering such an opportunity for security and freedom seems to be very ill advised.
Not so many people know this about me, but I was actually raised among many of the uber-rich, for a substantial period of my first 21 years. We're talking people for whom having a "boat" meant a 200-foot yacht and a "private plane" was a 737.
I enjoyed studying them, as well... in fact, they sowed the seeds for my fascination with the human psyche!
The ones who were genuinely content and happy were the ones who were engaged in doing their favorite things in the world, not the ones who spent the most money on flashy toys. In fact, there were far more suicides and drug overdoses among the "flashy toys" group.
Many years later, under very different circumstances, I get to know the late Paul Allen a bit. In case that name means little to you, he helped Bill Gates start Microsoft. His aunt Jo was a good friend, when I lived in Texas. Although Paul was a mega business magnate, he was actually happiest when he was involved with making music. He actually released a couple of decent rock albums...
People do win lotteries. My ex went to work for an insurance company in Dallas, Texas to fill a vacancy left by a woman who won the 2nd large prize in the (then) relatively new Texas lottery — about $33 million.
She quietly gave four weeks notice, she and her husband bought the horse ranch they'd always dreamed of owning, and as far as I know they are still there. We got to know them a little because the woman was training my ex for the new job... about the most "flashy" thing they bought were matching his-and-hers Range Rovers.
So people don't have to become raging assholes when they get money... although it seems like they were a minority.
Just some random late night thoughts...
Thanks for reading, and enjoy the rest of your week!
How about you? Have you ever come into a sudden windfall? That would include sudden riches in crypto! Do you know anyone who has? Did it substantially change their personality and psyche? Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!
Greetings bloggers and social content creators! This article was created via PeakD, a blogging application that's part of the Hive Social Content Experience. If you're a blogger, writer, poet, artist, vlogger, musician or other creative content wizard, come join us! Hive is a little "different" because it's not run by a "company;" it operates via the consensus of its users and your content can't be banned, censored, taken down or demonetized. And that COUNTS for something, in these uncertain times! So if you're ready for the next generation of social content where YOU retain ownership and control, come by and *learn about Hive and make an account!
Proud member of the Silver Bloggers Community on Hive!
(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly and uniquely for this platform — NOT cross posted anywhere else!) Created at 20220803 00:22 PDT 0621/1867
