Laws of Riches Part III

A GAMBLER NEVER WINS

Since time immemorial people of this world have always wished to make fast money by trying their luck in card tables, putting a wager on their favourite horses, betting on the outcome of the dice and so on. However, there are very few gamblers who die rich. Most of them have ran on the legs of borrowed time and once their 'luck' has run out, nine times out of ten, their money also runs out.

LAW THREE: QUIT GAMBLING

Gambling is one the greatest vices in the world. It breaks a family, split lovers and has inculcated negative qualities even in young children. Where money is concerned, if the shadow of this vice falls on it, it will never bear fruit. Yes you may win once, twice or even three times but it cannot be sustained. People then stake everything, and many lose everything.


In the epic mahabharata (bc 3000) gives a perfect example of this. It tells of five princes of hastinanpura(now known as delhi,India), who embodyrighteousness, courage,strength and morality being invited to a game of dice by their evil cousin and uncle. They start off by losing their cattle, then property and eventually their kingdom. They finally stake their wife on the gambling table. Where did all the divine qualities go to? The addiction of gambling causes men to lose their sense of reasoning thus destroying their lives.

"If i only i could win the lottery, then all my financial problems will be solved!"

This is what i've heard so many times. I myself have wished the same before because i thought that hitting the jackpot was the answer to my financial distress.

Lottery winners who lost their millions

By Ellen Goodstein, Bankrate.com

For a lot of people, winning the lottery is the American dream. But for many lottery winners, the reality is more like a nightmare.

"Winning the lottery isn't always what it's cracked up to be," says Evelyn Adams, who won the New Jersey lottery not just once, but twice (1985, 1986), to the tune of $5.4 million. Today the money is all gone and Adams lives in a trailer.

"I won the American dream but I lost it, too. It was a very hard fall. It's called rock bottom," says Adams.

"Everybody wanted my money. Everybody had their hand out. I never learned one simple word in the English language -- 'No.' I wish I had the chance to do it all over again. I'd be much smarter about it now," says Adams, who also lost money at the slot machines in Atlantic City.

"I was a big-time gambler," admits Adams. "I didn't drop a million dollars, but it was a lot of money. I made mistakes, some I regret, some I don't. I'm human. I can't go back now so I just go forward, one step at a time."

Living on food stamps

William "Bud" Post won $16.2 million in the Pennsylvania lottery in 1988 but now lives on his Social Security.

Post admitted he was both careless and foolish, trying to please his family. He eventually declared bankruptcy.

Now he lives quietly on $450 a month and food stamps.

"I'm tired, I'm over 65 years old, and I just had a serious operation for a heart aneurysm. Lotteries don't mean (anything) to me," says Post.

Sudden Wealth

"For many people, sudden money can cause disaster," says Susan Bradley, a certified financial planner in Palm Beach, Fla., and founder of the Sudden Money Institute, a resource center for new money recipients and their advisors.

"In our culture, there is a widely held belief that money solves problems. People think if they had more money, their troubles would be over. When a family receives sudden money, they frequently learn that money can cause as many problems as it solves," she says.

Craig Wallace, a senior funding officer for a company that buys lottery annuity payments in exchange for lump sums, agrees.

"Going broke is a common malady, particularly with the smaller winners. Say you've won $1 million. What you've really won is a promise to be paid $50,000 a year. People win and they think they're millionaires. They go out and buy houses and cars and before they know it, they're in way over their heads," he says.

Courtesy : Ellen Goodstein, Bankrate.com

"I WANT TO BE RICH FAST!"

One day while having dinner by the riverside , my one of my cousin who recently opened his business asked my rich uncle, "Uncle! Please tell me the fastest way to be rich!". To this he looked straight in the eyes of my cousin piercingly and said " Son! by asking me this question, you have already failed in your business!". There is no such thing as easy money. You have got to work hard and be patient. Just like the baby acorn, which needs sunlight from the sun, water from the rain, and continous care to become a mighty oak, money too has to be cultivated from the seed stage with regular savings and invested wisely so it brings decent returns".