BAMM

[Shannon]

There is a complex web of reasons why winners of the lottery lose it all. Lack of deservedness could be one reason, but at best, it will tend to be a small reason overall, if it's present. Much more common a cause is lack of self control (spend spend spend!), guilt for having when others do not (even when those others have made no real effort to have also), shame at not "taking care of" family friends, beggars, panhandlers, etc., fear of being rejected by those people who they rely on for love, affection, companionship and sense of self worth if they do not "share", and did I mention lack of self control? There's also a strong tendency for them to spend huge amounts of money on status symbols that either do nothing to advance or maintain their current level of wealth, or actually drain it away. (Rolls Royces, Bentleys, Maserattis, yachts, aircraft, etc.)

If I have a million dollars, why am I going to spend $250,000 on a car that then requires $25,000+ a year in insurance costs alone, when a good used 2 year old Honda or Toyota or (take your pick of quality cars with sane prices and maintenance fees) will get me there and back just as well? Most of the self made millionaires I talked to during the research for this program had a very similar response. Why spend more on a status symbol, when I know I'm a millionaire? Who do I have to impress?

The issue there is, they have this million dollars, but their mindset is not that of a millionaire - either inherited or self made - because they skipped all the conditioning that goes along with those things. They still have the insecurity that says, "I'm not good enough with a million dollars. I have to prove I have it by buying these status symbols." A self made millionaire, by contrast, understands the value of status symbols, but also knows that frugality is a better bet for getting there and staying there unless you have so much money that it doesn't matter what you do.

Usually you see old money driving Rolls Royces, and that's because they've figured out how to make their wealth self perpetuating by managing it properly. They also don't go buy a new one every few years... they tend to get one and maintain it for a long time. They insist on getting a good return on their investment.

I know of millionaires who were given Rolls Royces and actually rejected the gift, because the status symbol would require them to give up their comfortable, casual lifestyle, and would also require so much to maintain that it would become a liability for them.

If I make a billionaire set, it would be very similar to the millionaire set. Multi-staged most definitely.