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Ask anyone on the street, “will you be happy if you have one million dollars?”

The intuitive answer is Yes, isn’t it? Just think about what one million dollars can buy?

spend-a-million-dollars

The magical number of $1,000,000 has been the target of achievement for many people. Be it money in the bank for your retirement fund or simply for the kudos of being able to call themselves a millionaire, $1 million just sounds exciting.

But what if the majority of the people are not capable to hold such a large amount of money? What if one million dollars bring more stress than success to most people? Here is why.

Think about it, isn’t $1 million dollars just a bunch of paper or a figure in your bank account?

Just imagine today you open your bank statement and suddenly see one million dollars in your account, how would you feel?

Will you be excited? Initially maybe, but after you calm down, you may feel that something is wrong and the money does not belong to you. Maybe you feel confused or scared. Weird right?

How do you become so wealthy?

In George S. Clason’s book “The richest man in Babylon”, when the King learned that the gold has found its way into the possession of a few very rich men of the city, he asked the richest man Arkad, “How becamest thou so wealthy?

Only a great desire for wealth. Besides this, nothing.

Many people work hard and dream to be a millionaire, some even lost their souls and integrity in pursuit of money. But unless you have a millionaire mindset, even if you win $1 million dollars lottery, you are just a temporary millionaire. The money is filtered through the fingers of most people as quickly as the goat’s milk goes through the strainer.

How long can one million dollars last?

We all know the sad story of Madam Pusparani Mohan. After her husband was killed in a freak accident while working at Changi Airport’s Budget Terminal, she received nearly $1 million in insurance payouts and donations from the public. But in one year, that money is all gone.

madam-pusparani-mohan

As T. Harv Eker put in his book “Secrets of the Millionaire Mind”

The vast majority of people simply do not have the internal capacity to create and hold on to large amounts of money and the increased challenges that go with more money and success.

Why we were not capable to manage money

However, you are not the one to be blamed. Most of us spent at least 10 to 20 years in school. We have learned many things: literacy, math, chemistry, geography, history, and biology.

Nowadays, children even learn swimming, Karate, violin, and arts, but even an accountant nor a lawyer has ever attended a class called “How to manage one million dollars in my account”.

It is ironic that mankind can venture to the moon but some cannot save their own marriage, a CEO can manage a multimillion dollars company with two thousand employees but cannot manage two children at home.

Are these things so difficult to achieve:

  • Having a lasting relationship with the person you love
  • Enjoying the moments with your adorable children
  • Spending your own money wisely
  • Let your money grow and have a comfortable retirement,

You can if you put in some efforts

If you can write a million-dollar marketing proposal for your company or you can run a popular million dollar business? I don’t think so. Maybe you just did not put too much attention to it.

Henry Ford said,

If money is your hope for independence you will never have it. The only real security that a man will have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience, and ability.

Why not start to learn some financial knowledge just once a week today? Why not try to invest a small sum now and make all the mistakes before you end up losing the big ones?

There are many small steps you can take to immediately improve your financial situation and get yourself ready to embrace unexpected wealth.

How ready are you to have one million in your account?

About the Author

Ivan Guan is the author of the popular book "FIRE Your Retirement". He is an independent financial adviser with more than a decade of knowledge and experience in providing financial advisory services to both individuals and businesses. He specializes in investment planning and portfolio management for early retirement. His blog provides practical financial tips, strategies and resources to help people achieve financial freedom. Follow his Telegram Channel to join the FIRE community.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author. This does not reflect the official position of any agency, organization, employer or company. Refer to full disclaimers here.

    • Hi, Koh

      The point is that if a person is not ready to embrace a fortune, even if he or she becomes a “temporary millionaire”, the money will not stay.

      So a person should not pursue wealth without understanding wealth.

  • Yes you definitely can if you build it up yourself.
    On the other hand, there is a Chinese belief – “Those that GOD of Fortune wishes to destroy will overwhelm them with money overnight”.
    No almost all people can not handle “overwhelm money” overnight.

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