The Get Rich Quick Scam vs. Financial Education

I say the only people getting rich on get-rich-quick-schemes are the perpetrators of the schemes themselves, not the people who fall for it.

The fact that get-rich-quick schemes have always been thriving tells us a lot about the immature psychology of the masses. Some statistical facts:

By age 65 , per 100 people

1 is wealthy
4 are well off
5 are still working because they have to
54 are living on family or government support
36 are dead

Source: U.S. Dept of Health, Education and Welfare

Nowdays it seems to be normal to be broke or in debt. The reason for this and the reason for so many falling for "get-rich-quick" ideas is a lack in basic financial education and basic psychological education.

This thread will highlight various financial paths to failure, scams, conspiracies and stupidities we fall for and also various things school was supposed to teach us but failed to. Things a financial consultant was supposed to teach but failed to. Things the "become a millionaire" book was supposed to teach but failed to.

Myself, Im fairly comfortably off at a relatively young age but a bit taken aback by peoples stupidity on the subject.

Feel free to share, discuss, contemplate.

Also:

How can YOU educate us financially?





[edit on 15-7-2008 by Skyfloating]

An old buddhist joke that exemplifies a certain "path to failure" attitude concerning money:

Two zen monks die and go to heaven. God awaits them and tells them they have passed away too early and need to go back to earth. But he gives them choices as who they wish to return. He says: One of you can be someone who is always getting money. The other one can be someone who is always giving money. The first monk enthusiastically shouts: "I want to be the one always getting money!!!!". And so the second monk will be the one always giving money.

The first monk returns as a beggar, the second monk returns as a billionaire.

what sort of get rich quick schemes are you talking about just curious, there are a ton of them out there, which ones are on your radar.

I agree that people have no financial aptitude. you can get rich very quickly though I've seen that happen. But generally people get wealthy slowely. wanna know a secret to getting rich, have a large network. it's who you know. you can get rich very quickly if you get in with people who are rich and a willing totech you how to get a piece of the money. to get money you have to go where money is.

Been there done that, bought the books to prove it.
Only lesson I learned was,
IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT PROBABLY IS.

Years ago, my ex was heavily into almost every get rich quick scam he could find. Damn pyramid schemes, and you'll see it when you believe it scenarios.
Seems a new one came along every couple of months.
What they all had in common was investing a sum of money, usually larger than I wanted, and then hoping for a big payoff.
The thing is, like all business, if you don't get in, in the beginning, all you are doing is making money for others. There won't be a big payoff for you.
Had that money been invested in stocks or bonds or good grief just about anything other than what it was, I dare say life might be comfortable right now.
Most I lost was $12,000 to his stupidity, and my own for allowing it to be used that way.

Originally posted by BASSPLYR
what sort of get rich quick schemes are you talking about just curious, there are a ton of them out there, which ones are on your radar.

Basically I believe that anyone who makes claims of "you can get rich quick if you buy my book/CD/Workshop/Programm/Product..." is a scam-artist.

That doesnt mean its impossible to get rich quickly.

I agree that people have no financial aptitude. you can get rich very quickly though I've seen that happen. But generally people get wealthy slowely. wanna know a secret to getting rich, have a large network. it's who you know. you can get rich very quickly if you get in with people who are rich and a willing totech you how to get a piece of the money. to get money you have to go where money is.

Being at the same place money is is certainly beneficial.

reply to post by AccessDenied


Pyramid Schemes is one of them, thats right. Just a few minutes of neutral/mellow/objective/cool thought would be enough to realize that stuff cant work - and yet...people still buy into it by the masses.

I guess greed can blind us.

Good thread, Skyfloating. I have to say that just when I thought people couldn't be any more ignorant about financial matters, I was proven wrong. I thought that after people put $15k down on a $500k house with an adjustable rate mortgage, and then were stunned when they lost it (LOL) we had definitely hit the absolute bottom of how dumb people could be.

Then, yesterday I was watching the line of people outside an Indymac branch in California on CNN. The reporter was talking to a businessman who was absolutely shocked that the FDIC would only insure up to $100k in his accounts. There is a damn sign at every single teller's window saying that the FDIC only ensures up to $100k. How could someone possibly be a depositor, let alone a business owner, and have no idea this was the case?

The more I look, the more I see just how ignorant people are about this sort of thing. Everyone I know who is in a bad financial situation is there because of stupid mistakes made over and over again. I will say that under the age of 30 or so most of us are in the dark due to a lack of financial education as you pointed out. But past this point, common sense and life experience should kick in.

I never understood why they didn't teach people to balance a checkbook, calculate interest, plan for retirement, or explain the difference between high risk/low risk, and the importance of credit, etc. in school.

Originally posted by sc2099
I never understood why they didn't teach people to balance a checkbook, calculate interest, plan for retirement, or explain the difference between high risk/low risk, and the importance of credit, etc. in school.

Your examples are typical of the stupidity. And it goes even deeper than that.

One example: Most people actually believe that "getting a job" (read: making money for someone else) will make them good money.

(Sorry, I dont wish to offend any employed people with this).

yep more people need to read poor dad rich dad. you want to be the employer not the employee. it's a myth in america that the harder you work the richer you get, and that an education will bring you money. or even job security. try telling that to my buddy who went to brown has a phd and makes a lot less than a lot of people know who didn't go to college.

it's not how hard you work but how smart you work and having a true understanding of how money works. good credit is good if your poor. irrelevant to the rich who don't need credit anyway.

i plan to get out of the rat race. there re lots of ways to do it too.

Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education Education
That beat the one word post lol

Your right we all want to live in a life of luxury .........some do and they may not even bother about money.

i think 99% of the worlds population has fallen for a get rich sceam in one form or another .....my self included ....cost me 165 years lol

but you are right ..its like computer hacking ...its not that hard ...but no one is going to tell you that because knowladge is power and now we are in the infomation age ........no realy we are ...we have had the stone age , the iron age etc .....now its the infomaion age .............and guess what .no one will tell you $£%& for fear of them loseing out.


i realy do get wht your trying to say

[edit on 15-7-2008 by N.B.A.Y.S.O.H]

reply to post by sc2099


Since you underlined "the importance of debt" you might want to clarify, for the readers, what you mean by that.

school teaches you the opposite of being rich. Rich has nothing to do with making money. Its all about giving.

Get rich quick schemes don't work because in order to become financially independent it takes a lot of education. It takes doing the work that others wont do and not following everyone else. It requires a great amount of discipline and critical thinking.

Everything is difficult before it becomes easy...

I suggest, for the novice in financial education, which cannot be learned in any public school or most colleges/universities Rich Dad Poor Dad

This book gives you a pretty good description of a lot of things people in this thread would most likely be curious about.

Instead of buying donald trump's products and watching the apprentice, pick his brain.

The info is all out there, you just have to not want to be a paid slave.

School teaches people how to be good little slaves. Wage slaves.

The paycheck? like a carrot dangling in front of your starving face.

Why be the person who gets the bonus, when you could be the one giving bonuses???

Originally posted by Skyfloating
reply to post by sc2099

 

Since you underlined "the importance of debt" you might want to clarify, for the readers, what you mean by that.

Right-o. Actually I said credit rather than debt, but close enough. I underlined 'the importance of credit' in my previous post because IMO it is THE most important aspect of money. Going into debt can absolutely render a person's life irreparable if they don't know what they're doing. If this hypothetical person gets themselves into debt with credit cards or adjustable rate loans or whatever and is unable to make their payments they can find themselves unable to rent a place to live, get power hooked up, open a bank account, or even get some jobs.

These are the very fundamentals of life in 2008 and thus, credit and money management should be a prereq to graduating high school.

It is sad and wrong IMO but a person's credit score can make or break their life. Of course it's possible to operate outside the credit system by paying cash. But you never know when you might need to borrow money. Personally, I think the credit system is a total scam, but I realize that sometimes it's impossible to get around. Most of us wouldn't be able to buy a house or a new car without it.

I hope this clarifies what I meant.

As for getting a job, haha well I hope no one out there thinks "getting a job" is going to make them rich. I know you meant no disrespect to employed people because, after all, we all have to start somewhere. Most people aren't prepared to be the boss before they're an employee, and even fewer know how to operate outside of the whole employer/employee/9-5 system, so a little work experience is a must.

Originally posted by iiinvision
school teaches you the opposite of being rich. Rich has nothing to do with making money. Its all about giving.

Exactly. Hence the joke about the Zen-Monks above. The "give me, give me" mentality and walking around asking oneself what one can take rather than give doesnt work. People who give a lot on the other hand seem to get back tenfold.

I suggest, for the novice in financial education, which cannot be learned in any public school or most colleges/universities Rich Dad Poor Dad

Thats a decent book, I agree.

reply to post by sc2099


I guess some investors need to take up credit ocassionally, which is fine. But on a personal level Ive never gone into debt or maxed out credit cards because its pretty obvious that it doesnt pay off. I never understood why so many people think going into debt is acceptable just so they can show off some stuff they bought. Debt is dependence and the antithesis of freedom.

But its not only the people but also daddy-government setting a bad example of going into debt and being there for ages.

Originally posted by Skyfloating
An old buddhist joke that exemplifies a certain "path to failure" attitude concerning money:

Two zen monks die and go to heaven. God awaits them and tells them they have passed away too early and need to go back to earth. But he gives them choices as who they wish to return. He says: One of you can be someone who is always getting money. The other one can be someone who is always giving money. The first monk enthusiastically shouts: "I want to be the one always getting money!!!!". And so the second monk will be the one always giving money.

The first monk returns as a beggar, the second monk returns as a billionaire.

That doesn't sound much like an old Buddhist joke to me. Where did you hear it, Sir?

Originally posted by Cadbury
That doesn't sound much like an old Buddhist joke to me. Where did you hear it, Sir?

I dont remember. Twas a decade ago in some zen-parables book. Im sure Ive altered the joke meanwhile.

You´re probably thinking because it contains the concept of "God" and "Heaven", but they had equivalents of those concepts too.

[edit on 16-7-2008 by Skyfloating]

the best way to get rich quick is to think of an idea to get rich, and well, sell the information......at least that is what appears to be happening. the main ones getting rich are the ones selling people their plans to get rich.

I don't think there is an easy way to get rich.

there was a time that I worked at a little gas station/convenience store. every morning this old man would walk through and go through our garbage, pick out all the bottles and cans, and then go on his was to his next stop. he was dressed in rags, and gave the impression that he was the poorest of poor. but, well, this man was worth a few million. so, maybe one of the keys to getting rich is to not be so high and mighty that you won't bend down to pick a penny up off the sidewalk and to be such a tightwad, that you don't go spending money on every get rich scheme that pops up?

Originally posted by dawnstar
the best way to get rich quick is to think of an idea to get rich, and well, sell the information......at least that is what appears to be happening. the main ones getting rich are the ones selling people their plans to get rich.

Yes. Amazing isnt it? "The path to getting rich quick is to write a book about getting rich quick".

there was a time that I worked at a little gas station/convenience store. every morning this old man would walk through and go through our garbage, pick out all the bottles and cans, and then go on his was to his next stop. he was dressed in rags, and gave the impression that he was the poorest of poor. but, well, this man was worth a few million. so, maybe one of the keys to getting rich is to not be so high and mighty that you won't bend down to pick a penny up off the sidewalk and to be such a tightwad, that you don't go spending money on every get rich scheme that pops up?

While I dont think "saving" is an ideal way to get rich (at least not in my definition of rich which entails enjoyment of life) I have seen that many of the really, really, really rich people dont go around bragging and looking down on others. Think "the modest sneakers and baseball-cap type" like steven spielberg. Its mainly the semi-rich who act that way.