There is a common assumption that if people had more money, their financial problems would be solved. But evidence proves to the contrary.
I was intrigued by an article in CNNMoney by Steve Hargreaves on June 25, 2014, “Squandering the family fortune…,” that illustrates how people can have lots of money, but lose it easily because they don’t know how to manage it.
He wrote, “Nearly 60% of the time a family’s money is exhausted by the children of the person who created the wealth….In 90% of the cases it’s gone by the time the grandchildren die.”
He backs up his point with the history of the Vanderbilt family. Cornelius, the patriarch of the clan, built a railroad and shipping empire in the mid-1800s, and became the second richest American ever—worth over $200 billion in today’s dollars. His children spent his money lavishly. In the 1970s, the family held a reunion with 120 members attending, and there wasn’t a single millionaire among them.
Obviously, money is not wealth that endures. Wisdom is!
“Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.” Proverbs, 4:7
This is so on target. Thank you Evan!
It is imperative that any member of a family that has accumulated wealth be fiscally responsible and realize that money cannot buy happiness. It may temporarily be a convenient factor, but ultimately it never pays to not be responsible!….in any facet of life. Money does NOT endure!
Certainly the Proverbs statement “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.” is applicable here!
Great Evan! Thank you for the reminder!
This is also illustrated by the fact that there are more bankruptcies among lottery winners that any other single group. I was told this by someone who worked with the California Lottery.
I am so grateful every time I pay a bill. Think of the good that the payment is accomplishing. People are earning paychecks to support their families, businesses are being supported, the economy is being benefitted., etc. God supplies me with all I need, and I pass it on to others.
If I had a daughter I wouldn’t worry if she married the lowliest working man considered by the majority as low. But if he had the wisdom of Solomon, he’d be the richest of all who considers himself rich. I have an idiom which I call my own. “THOSE WHO KNOWS EVERYTHING, KNOWS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. BUT THOSE WHO KNOWS NOTHING, KNOWS EVERYTHING.”
You can switch words such as; “Those who are rich without wisdom are the poorest of them all. But those who are the poorest, with wisdom are the richest of all.”
Is money the root of all evil!
No. Money is not the problem. The love of money is a root of evil.