Money and People

When people stumble on to a sudden rise in cash inflow (inheritance, significant pay-rise, etc.), how do they normally react to that situation?


I think you can divide these groups of people into two. The ones who can handle it, and the ones who can't.

The first ones are usually not new to this thing. Most of them have already counted their first million, and so this is just another trip around the block. They don't see their lives changed by material things. As a result, they don't have a drastic change of outlook. They view it like an extra icing on the cake... No big deal.

The second group is more interesting. They are the ones who think that they are well-off now, that because they earn more they are above the rest. They might not admit it consciously but it is developed in their persona, to a point that people notice. In most cases, you see the financial behavior of this people spin out of control such that when the flux of cash inflow is gone they find it difficult to go back to their frugal spending habits. As far as damages go, money is the least to worry about. The arrogance and lack of consideration these people develop will start to cut them off from their friends.

Remember, material things help the living survive. But food, shelter... they only sustain the body, the shell of the person. Its the non-material things that make us human.