Money Lessons From The White Lotus

Posted December 16, 2022 by Ben Carlson

I loved the first season of  The White Lotus It was the perfect pandemic show at the perfect time, allowing us to escape to an exotic locale and enjoy the quirks of some wonderfully written characters.

Season two just wrapped on HBO and I enjoyed it even more than the first one.

The murder mystery aspect of the show was tremendous but my finance brain couldn’t help but notice a number of money and behavioral psychology lessons from this season’s cast.

I know what you’re thinking: Ben, these are TV characters. Are you really going to do this?

You’re xxxx right I’m going to do this.

And creator Mike White even said in an interview all of these characters are based on people he knows or has interacted with in the entertainment industry. The show was satirical but nailed a lot of tried and true money truths.

Here are some of my favorites from The White Lotus resort in Sicily:

[WARNING: SPOILERS GALORE TO FOLLOW]

Keeping up with the Joneses can get you into trouble in a lot of different ways. My favorite dynamic on the show was the interplay between two couples traveling to Sicily together — Ethan & Harper and Cameron & Daphne.

Each married couple was unhappy in their own way.

Ethan and Cameron were old college roommates but Cameron hit it big first, making some dough as a finance bro.

Just before their getaway, Ethan and Harper earned untold millions selling his tech firm. They told themselves the money wasn’t going to change them but earning a big payday does change how other people perceive you.

Caeron told Ethan once you become fabulously wealthy, it’s OK to cheat on your wife:

Cameron: Now, that you’re a big shot, people must be slipping into your DMs left and right.

Ethan: No. What good would it do me if they were? I mean, I’m married.

Cameron: Dude, everyone cheats, E.

Ethan: No, they don’t. Come on! They do?

Cameron: Yeah!

And even though his big payday gave Ethan more money, he was in constant competition with his old roommate.

Newfound wealth led to jealousy, resentment, trust issues, cheating and more baggage than Tanya brought with her to the resort.

A lot of people assume keeping up with the Joneses is all about spending more money to keep up. That is part of it but it can also change your behavior in ways you might not appreciate.

More money might not change who you are but it changes who you think you should be and how other people think you should act.

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://awealthofcommonsense.com/2022/12/money-lessons-from-the-white-lotus/