You may have heard that the Mega Millions Lottery has a HUGE Jackpot tonight!
You did hear that right? It’s not really talked about all that much.
If you are anywhere near the television, internet, radio, a store or people in general then you’ve heard. The internet is full of blog posts where people talk about all the things they would buy if they won.
I wrote a post today too. I didn’t focus on what I would buy because I found out something about myself.
I’m not mentally ready to be wealthy!
I know it sounds weird to say that given I’m in debt, a lot of debt. I should want to be wealthy, and I do WANT to be wealthy. I just don’t think that I’m mentally ready to be wealthy.
I had a conversation about winning the lottery with my children. Our topic of discussion centered around what we would buy. A new car? Check. A house, maybe two? Check. Someone to clean those house? Big time check! The kids wanted to go to Disney World and buy all the Lego’s that they could find.
What is the common denominator in all of that list?
Stuff! I am still wired to consume.
I’m disappointed that my first thought wasn’t in helping others (Although it was in paying off all my debt, that is still my financial priority.). No one needs a $600 Million in the bank. $100 Million will be just fine for the next four or five generations of your family.
The remaining $500 Million (yes I’m ignoring the tax ding here, go with it.) could be used to send people to school to learn a trade and improve their lives with better work. It could help set up homeless families who need a hand up to set them on the right track. It could be donated to the many wonderful research foundations who are trying to end diseases like cancer, Aids, heart disease and stupidity. It could fund financial literacy curriculum’s in hundreds of school systems across the country (Imagine providing all those children with the tools they need to never have to dream about winning the lottery in hopes of avoiding debt.)
What type of mentality would you have if you were wealthy?
Would you be more likely to spend your money like some of the lottery winners who have been featured on television shows? I saw one guy who had a house FULL of crap stuff. He bragged about the large number of knives he had on the wall and the body of armor standing by his door. He beamed when he talked about how he had a statue near his pool that was 1 of only 2, the second being at Walt Disney World.
He made a comment that has always stuck with me. (Paraphrasing here) “If I want my money to keep growing, I just don’t buy something one day.”
Is that a healthy mentality to take? In my opinion it is not.
A recent news piece that I saw was about a woman who had won $1 Million in her state lottery. She was still using food stamps because (again paraphrasing) she “wasn’t earning an income and do you know how expensive two houses are?”
Hopefully the majority of us would do something positive with the type of money that is available in tonight’s Mega Millions Lottery. I want to think that we would all donate large amounts of money to many different charities and help out others who aren’t doing as well.
For me, I won’t be buying a lottery ticket. I already blew $10 this week on the lottery and I’d rather not do it again. Besides, the chances of winning when it’s this big is far greater than when it is $5 Million. I can still do great things with that “little bit” of money.
Self-help author Paul Mckenna talks about ‘raising your wealth thermostat’ as a way of becoming mentally ready for wealth. Imagine in the jackpot was 50 Zillion bucks, suddenly 600 million doesn’t seem anywhere near as much.
I think I pass this test because yesterday I was having a conversation with a friend who asked what I’d do if I received $50,000 tomorrow. My answer? Nothing. He didn’t accept it so I admitted I’d probably pay off my student loan debt of $17,000. The remaining $33,000? Still nothing. I said I’d probably put it in investments and just forget about it because there was nothing I needed to buy immediately. I want a car, but if my student loan debt is gone I can get that with my current income so I don’t need a cash windfall.
Ha! I have the mentality to be wealthy!! Does this mean I’ll get to be wealthy? does it work like that lol
I say you pass Bridget!! Good for you! My list is still longer than I’d like but I think it’s representative of my situation.
I LOVED the line “It could be donated to the many wonderful research foundations who are trying to end diseases like cancer, Aids, heart disease and stupidity.” snort…stupidity! I know a few people who could use help in that area.
Usually I don’t play the lotto. When I do, I’ve wondered about how I’d spend it and came up with a few things that I would do first; pay off my remaining credit card debt (which I’m working towards right now…only 24 more months to go), I’d buy a new car (I’m driving a 16 yr old one with no a/c…in California, you GOTTA have a/c!), I’d pay off my parents & siblings (3 of them) mortgages (well, it does depend on how much I would have won), and I’d tithe to my church.
After those, I’d have to make a list of the other things I’d want to do with it.
Sigh! We gotta be able to dream, don’t we?
One thing that my grandfather used to say to his kids (and my mother has said one more than one occasion) is, “I don’t want to be rich, I just want to pay my debts (bills) every day and have a dime left over in my pocket.” How profound he was. And what an amazing way to view life. And, I completely agree with him…I don’t want to be rich/wealthy, I want to be comfortable and not have to worry about money.
Which is what I’m working my way towards….
LOVE this post! And I love that you know yourself.
I’m somewhere in between. It has been a long-time dream of mine to have so much money that I can give a full half of my income to charity and still live the lifestyle I fantasize about. The kicker is, the lifestyle I dream about has a butler (just because they’re super cool, not because I need anyone murdered), an on-call masseuse and a part-time personal chef.
The good news is that I’ve already decided to consult with a CPA BEFORE I claim any major lottery winnings, so I can make sure I’m doing things smart, not greedily. But I’m not above acknowledging there’s some greed in there too.
I am ready to be wealthy! Ha! Well, my wife and are working hard and we believe it will lead to results. We live below our means and that’s our insurance for savings. C’mon, wealth! Anytime!!