Looking Wealthy Versus Being Wealthy
Stay where you are, maintain your status in life while getting better opportunity. Here is a lesson that everyone moving up should be reminded,
Wealth Can't Be Bought for 60 Easy Payments
I vividly remember the day. After I sold my company in 2000, my attorney handed me my first installment payment, a check for $250,000.
“Yippee, $250,000! I'm rich! I made it!” I mistakenly gleamed. And now it was time to announce it the world. I immediately envisioned fast cars, designer clothes, speedboats, and an entourage of bikini-clad women. I thought I was wealthy and I was going to flaunt it.
Unfortunately, that fantasy was miles from the reality. Yet, I tried. I bought a candy-apple red convertible Corvette. Sports car? Check. Designer clothes from Nordstrom? Check. I researched buying a speedboat until the Internet crash interrupted my orgasmic vision. I invested my newfound wealth in tech stocks and lost thousands of dollars. Within months, more than half of my “wealth” evaporated, and after a conversation with my accountant, another third was soon to be parted with, thanks to taxes.
Ironically, in my attempt to look wealthy, real wealth slid further away. With no job, no business, no income, and a small sum of money, I couldn't support my life forever, nor the wealthy lifestyle I envisioned for someone rich. I wasn't rich at all.
The Illusion of Wealth: Looking Rich
In pop culture, master illusionists of wealth are called “30K millionaires.” If you haven't heard this phrase, it characterizes someone who maintains an image of a millionaire, yet has no net worth. These folks aren't hard to find. They drive entry-level BMWs with custom chrome rims, they wear fancy designer clothes with gothic cursive lettering from some faux French guy, and they congregate in the VIP section of the club ordering bottle service, of course, on credit. These folks broadcast like dashing debutantes with an extraordinary A- game, but behind all the flash-and-cash they're miserable magicians of the Sidewalk.
The problem with looking wealthy versus being wealthy is that the former is easy while the latter is not. Easy credit and long-term monthly financing options(make no payments for one year!) are tempting conduits to help you purchase the illusion of wealth. Society has led you to believe that wealth can be
bought at a mall, at a car dealership, or on an infomercial. Like my initial spending spree when I cashed my first check, these appearances of wealth are supposed announcements to the world: “I'm rich!”
But are you? When you finance an $80,000 Mercedes Benz over six years because that's all you could afford, that isn't wealth, but impersonation of wealth. You're fooling yourself, and it's a Fastlane detour. But don't jump the bandwagon yet; this isn't a sermon about how you can't spend money on pricey German sedans. Not at all. Wealth isn't embodied in a car but in the freedom to know that you can buy it.
Freedom to walk into the dealership, know your price, pay cash, and drive away. For a gift, I bought my brother a new Lexus. It was the easiest transaction I ever did.
I researched the car and determined the price I wanted to pay. I walked into the dealership with a cashier's check and told the salesman, “I have a cashier's check for $44,000 and I want to buy that car. I need a YES or a NO.”
Twenty minutes later, I owned a Lexus. This is wealth, not an impersonation of wealth.
When I drive to the gym, I pass a dilapidated apartment complex near the expressway. In the parking lot I always see the same car parked: a shiny black Cadillac Escalade with 22-inch chrome custom rims. Do you see the incongruity? You live in a crappy apartment but you drive a $60,000 car with
$10,000 rims? Do I see monitors in those headrests and hear a 24-speaker stereo? Geez, 90 grand of image and two bucks of common sense. Wouldn't it be wiser if you focused on owning a nice house in a nice neighborhood instead of leasing the tightest car in the Marbella Gardens apartment complex? Priorities: Some want to look rich, while others want to be rich.
“Faux wealth” is the illusion of wealth without having it. It believes society's definition of wealth. It's not realizing that the pursuit of “faux wealth” does something terribly destructive: It destroys real wealth.
And as the chasm between real wealth and faux wealth expands, expectations are violated and misery creeps in. Like a Chinese finger-cuff, the more you try to look rich, the tighter the grip of poorness becomes. Wealth cannot be purchased at a Mercedes dealership, but the destruction of your freedom can.
Lost in wealth's translation is freedom. People flaunt the icons of wealth, but donot have freedom, and when you don't have freedom, it assiduously gnaws at the other true wealth elements, health and relationships.
Henry Sukarano buys his dream house in the Baltimore suburbs for $1.8 million. As a pharmaceutical representative for one of the leading drug makers, Henry's career is on the fast-track. His big home has everything he wants, including a pool, horse stables, and an impressive five-car garage. The purchase gives Henry a feeling of “I've made it!” . . . for about eight weeks.
Corporate politics and job cuts invade Henry's career, forcing him to work longer hours. He assumes other territories once covered by recently laid- off workers. Henry commutes two hours daily and is mandated to cover the entire Eastern seaboard. He's either on the road, in a plane, or sleeping. The long hours have disturbing clarity: Henry rarely “lives” at his dream home, and when he does, he spends it sleeping or recharging from the hustle of the workweek.
His relationship with his wife and kids suffers. His health declines as the stress of responsibility mount. Henry comes to a moment of truth: “I'm not living a dream, but my dream is living me.” Feeling trapped to the lifestyle illusion, Henry continues to work believing the ideology that wealth has its
price.
Notice how the destruction of freedom attacks the other sibling wealth components. Unaffordable material possessions have consequences to our health and relationships. The irony of looking wealthy is that it is an enemy to real wealth: It destroys freedom, it destroys health, and it destroys relationships.
Foremost, The Millionaire Fastlane addresses the FREEDOM portion of the wealth trinity, because freedom offers protection to health and relationships.
Only you can define your freedom and how you prefer to live. If you want the freedom to fly private jets, that's it. If you want the freedom to live a minimalist lifestyle, then that is it. Everyone's freedom is different! Within your personal definition, you'll find a big piece of your wealth puzzle, as opposed to society's version, which leads to Sidewalking purgatory.
Wealth Can't Be Bought for 60 Easy Payments
I vividly remember the day. After I sold my company in 2000, my attorney handed me my first installment payment, a check for $250,000.
“Yippee, $250,000! I'm rich! I made it!” I mistakenly gleamed. And now it was time to announce it the world. I immediately envisioned fast cars, designer clothes, speedboats, and an entourage of bikini-clad women. I thought I was wealthy and I was going to flaunt it.
Unfortunately, that fantasy was miles from the reality. Yet, I tried. I bought a candy-apple red convertible Corvette. Sports car? Check. Designer clothes from Nordstrom? Check. I researched buying a speedboat until the Internet crash interrupted my orgasmic vision. I invested my newfound wealth in tech stocks and lost thousands of dollars. Within months, more than half of my “wealth” evaporated, and after a conversation with my accountant, another third was soon to be parted with, thanks to taxes.
Ironically, in my attempt to look wealthy, real wealth slid further away. With no job, no business, no income, and a small sum of money, I couldn't support my life forever, nor the wealthy lifestyle I envisioned for someone rich. I wasn't rich at all.
The Illusion of Wealth: Looking Rich
In pop culture, master illusionists of wealth are called “30K millionaires.” If you haven't heard this phrase, it characterizes someone who maintains an image of a millionaire, yet has no net worth. These folks aren't hard to find. They drive entry-level BMWs with custom chrome rims, they wear fancy designer clothes with gothic cursive lettering from some faux French guy, and they congregate in the VIP section of the club ordering bottle service, of course, on credit. These folks broadcast like dashing debutantes with an extraordinary A- game, but behind all the flash-and-cash they're miserable magicians of the Sidewalk.
The problem with looking wealthy versus being wealthy is that the former is easy while the latter is not. Easy credit and long-term monthly financing options(make no payments for one year!) are tempting conduits to help you purchase the illusion of wealth. Society has led you to believe that wealth can be
bought at a mall, at a car dealership, or on an infomercial. Like my initial spending spree when I cashed my first check, these appearances of wealth are supposed announcements to the world: “I'm rich!”
But are you? When you finance an $80,000 Mercedes Benz over six years because that's all you could afford, that isn't wealth, but impersonation of wealth. You're fooling yourself, and it's a Fastlane detour. But don't jump the bandwagon yet; this isn't a sermon about how you can't spend money on pricey German sedans. Not at all. Wealth isn't embodied in a car but in the freedom to know that you can buy it.
Freedom to walk into the dealership, know your price, pay cash, and drive away. For a gift, I bought my brother a new Lexus. It was the easiest transaction I ever did.
I researched the car and determined the price I wanted to pay. I walked into the dealership with a cashier's check and told the salesman, “I have a cashier's check for $44,000 and I want to buy that car. I need a YES or a NO.”
Twenty minutes later, I owned a Lexus. This is wealth, not an impersonation of wealth.
When I drive to the gym, I pass a dilapidated apartment complex near the expressway. In the parking lot I always see the same car parked: a shiny black Cadillac Escalade with 22-inch chrome custom rims. Do you see the incongruity? You live in a crappy apartment but you drive a $60,000 car with
$10,000 rims? Do I see monitors in those headrests and hear a 24-speaker stereo? Geez, 90 grand of image and two bucks of common sense. Wouldn't it be wiser if you focused on owning a nice house in a nice neighborhood instead of leasing the tightest car in the Marbella Gardens apartment complex? Priorities: Some want to look rich, while others want to be rich.
How to Direct your Belief in Acquiring Wealth
Faux Wealth Destroys Real Wealth“Faux wealth” is the illusion of wealth without having it. It believes society's definition of wealth. It's not realizing that the pursuit of “faux wealth” does something terribly destructive: It destroys real wealth.
And as the chasm between real wealth and faux wealth expands, expectations are violated and misery creeps in. Like a Chinese finger-cuff, the more you try to look rich, the tighter the grip of poorness becomes. Wealth cannot be purchased at a Mercedes dealership, but the destruction of your freedom can.
Lost in wealth's translation is freedom. People flaunt the icons of wealth, but donot have freedom, and when you don't have freedom, it assiduously gnaws at the other true wealth elements, health and relationships.
Henry Sukarano buys his dream house in the Baltimore suburbs for $1.8 million. As a pharmaceutical representative for one of the leading drug makers, Henry's career is on the fast-track. His big home has everything he wants, including a pool, horse stables, and an impressive five-car garage. The purchase gives Henry a feeling of “I've made it!” . . . for about eight weeks.
Corporate politics and job cuts invade Henry's career, forcing him to work longer hours. He assumes other territories once covered by recently laid- off workers. Henry commutes two hours daily and is mandated to cover the entire Eastern seaboard. He's either on the road, in a plane, or sleeping. The long hours have disturbing clarity: Henry rarely “lives” at his dream home, and when he does, he spends it sleeping or recharging from the hustle of the workweek.
His relationship with his wife and kids suffers. His health declines as the stress of responsibility mount. Henry comes to a moment of truth: “I'm not living a dream, but my dream is living me.” Feeling trapped to the lifestyle illusion, Henry continues to work believing the ideology that wealth has its
price.
Notice how the destruction of freedom attacks the other sibling wealth components. Unaffordable material possessions have consequences to our health and relationships. The irony of looking wealthy is that it is an enemy to real wealth: It destroys freedom, it destroys health, and it destroys relationships.
Foremost, The Millionaire Fastlane addresses the FREEDOM portion of the wealth trinity, because freedom offers protection to health and relationships.
Only you can define your freedom and how you prefer to live. If you want the freedom to fly private jets, that's it. If you want the freedom to live a minimalist lifestyle, then that is it. Everyone's freedom is different! Within your personal definition, you'll find a big piece of your wealth puzzle, as opposed to society's version, which leads to Sidewalking purgatory.
Wealth is authored by strong familial relationships,
fitness and health, and freedom-not by material possessions.
Unaffordable material possessions are destructive to the wealth trinity.
Source : The Millionaire Fastlane by MJ DeMARCO
 |
| source |