Why It's Not Greedy To Want To Be Rich

Most of us when growing up have been taught that being rich is wrong. Rich people are greedy. The English language is full of proverbs that reinforce this view. Here are some examples:

"The meek will inherit the Earth"

"The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil"

Sometimes these views are also brought about by jealousy. When you see someone with an expensive car that you cannot afford, the instinctive act may be to put them down or feel some hatred towards them. In Australia, we call this "tall poppy syndrome", which is basically cutting down those are successful.

Having said that, yes, some rich people can be snobby if they are not brought up well. Their children may later turn around and waste their inheritance, so don't worry about that kind of stuff. However rich people that are self made usually remember their roots.

While it is true you shouldn't make money your God, you can still be rich and be spiritual at the same time.

People like Deepak Chopra who are reknowned for their spirituality are rich. Does that make them any less spiritual? Robert Kiyosaki (author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad) has recently written a book with his ordained Buddhist sister about two different paths to God, Money and Happiness.

One reason people like that are rich may be because they have a high energy and they use it to "up lift" other people. This then attracts more people to them, who are willing to pay to be uplifted. Isn't Anthony Robbins a classic example of this?

A lot of people believe that rich people are only taking money away from poor people. Is this a rumor created by poor people to discourage people from becoming rich? What people don't realize is that money is just an idea. Money is created "out of thin air" every day.

Imagine you buy a house tomorrow and do nothing to it - don't rent it and don't improve it. Over time, the value of that property increases. You are not stealing money from the poor to make its value increase, it just does, due to many other factors.

If you understand the concept of fractional reserve banking, you can see how savings banks can turn your $1000 deposit into $32,000 plus - just like that! They're not stealing from anyone, it's how the system works.

On the share market, there are strategies where people trading stocks and options are able to create win-win situations. It's more than a simple case of someone winning what someone else has lost. Thinking that being rich is just stealing from the poor is a poor mindset to have.

Nowhere in our school life are we given a proper financial education - one where we are taught how to have money work for us. Instead we are taught to have someone else manage our money, like a financial planner. Don't you think that if financial planners knew all about money then they would be rich as well? Many of them aren't. Why are they working as financial planners instead of going on Safari in Africa? Some are only interested in investing your money in companies that give them the largest commissions to do so!

We don't realize it but we also give in to our emotions around money too much. We spend because it gives us pleasure, we don't save because it's painful to lose the satisfaction of short term pleasure of spending the money now. We buy a lottery ticket and hope we get lucky instead of investing our money. Is it any wonder we aren't rich?

I want to be rich. I'm not sorry about it either. I want to help the poor. I want to donate regularly to charities. I want to make the world a better place. I can't do all of that when I am poor myself. If I am rich, then I'll be in a better position to help other people out. That's not greedy, is it? There are many ways to help people for free but with money you can do a lot more.

Nearly every famously rich person has used their position to do at least some good in the world. Bill Gates has set up a charity foundation with his wife Melinda to reduce poverty and enhance health care globally (among other things). Recently, Warren Buffet has announced he will be donating a large portion of his wealth to this foundation.

Oprah is known for giving away things to her audience and donating entire schools in third world countries. Some people like Michael Jackson have donated bucketloads to many charities and has opened his doors to terminally ill children, unfortunately too much attention has been drawn away from his great deeds.

Even if rich people do nothing but spend their money, they are still benefiting the community by flowing money into companies that provide the goods and services to them, which in turn keep people employed - good for the entire community. Just something to think about I guess.

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Here's an article I've just found that seems to be on a similar page: http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/why-the-unmaterialistic-should-have-the-greatest-drive-to-get-rich/

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In the moving video below, especially listen to the message at the 4 minute mark.