Sunday, November 24, 2013

If I Ever Get My Hands On A Significant Amount Of Money, You Won't Have To Worry About Me Blowing It!

As I write this post, I am sitting here waiting for my plumber to come and fix a leaking hot water heater on a day when it feels like eight degrees outside. I have my daughter's student loan payments up the wazoo and a host of other inconveniences that a significant amount of money would alleviate. As I go through this financial Hell from day to day I continuously read and hear about actors, actresses, athletes, and lottery winners who literally blow their money or their lives and thereby negating their chance to use their money. The latest potential victim of this is Pedro Quezada, the Passaic, New Jersey man who won a $338 million Powerball jackpot, among the largest lottery winnings, earlier this year. Reports have him as nearly broke already. He won in March and  it is now November....Think about that, $338 in less than eight months?  Then of course there are the A-Rod's and Lindsey Lohan's of the world who have been able to parlay their gifts/talents into wealth and still cannot seem to "get it together." 

I titled this post "If I Ever Get My Hands On a Significant Amount of Money, You Won't Have to Worry About Me Blowing It," because while I agree with Superior Court Chancery Judge Margaret Mary McVeigh when she says "That's what money does to people: It changes positive relationships into bad ones. It doesn't always enhance a relationship, or bring out people's better qualities," I also believe that I would have the wherewithal to do what I needed to do to live in a comfortable (not extravagant) manner. In an article appearing in USA TODAY titled Twelve Things Not to Do If You Win The Lottery, I could not agree more with tip number 5. It reads verbatim below: 

Let your debts remain in place. If you get the "I'm rich and don't have to pay anymore" bug, you might be dooming yourself. Whether you take the lump-sum or the annuity option, if you have a single penny of debt in the immediate future and distant future, then something is seriously wrong. For that matter, you should not have a single debt ever again. If you manage to go broke down the road and still have a mortgage, car payments, student loans, credit card debt and personal bills, all of your friends and family members should get to spank or ridicule you every day for the rest of your life.

For most people, it is the lack of money that is the root of all social evil and misery because there is not enough to pay our bills in their entirety as there always seems to be more month than money. When you hit a lottery or you are blessed enough to work in a field where the numbers are few but the visibility and demand is high such as athletics, entertainment, etc. there ought not be a need for the financial messes that the average Joe and Jane continuously hear and read about. For example, Dr. Boyce Watkins published an article in BOSS SPORTS on November 2, 2013  titled ALLEN IVERSON RETIRES WITH LESS MONEY THAN A FIVE YEAR OLD.  Does that make sense to you? The sad part is, he is not the first nor will he be the last as a fool and his money do part. I just don't get it, because all I want to do is be able to pay my bills, be debt free, and buy what I want to buy when I want to buy it without incurring debt; it's not brain surgery. I don't understand why the folks who can do what I just described blow this gift. For you the average reader out there reading this post, can you imagine? I end with the title of this post; If I ever get my hands on a significant amount of money, you won't have to worry about me doing anything stupid to lose it. I will be grateful to God and cherish the opportunity to be able to pay my bills, be debt free, and buy what I want to buy when I want to buy it without incurring debt. My children's college tuition would be paid, my house and car would be paid for. I would tithe to my church and then I would live without debtors calling, bills coming in the mail or online, etc. etc. How about you?  I welcome your commentary in the comment section of The Critical Thinker and you are invited to follow me on Twitter @thinkcritical01 and on Tumblr at thecriticalthinker01.tumblr.com. 





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