Why Aren’t Rich People Happier?

Posted April 22, 2022 by Ben Carlson

William “Bud” Post lived a hard life.

His mother died when he was young and his father later dropped him off at an orphanage. Post was a drifter for most of his life, doing odd jobs to stay afloat.   When he purchased a lottery ticket in 1988, he had just $2.46 in his bank account. Lo and behold, it was a winning ticket — Post walked away with $16.2 million.   That’s a life-changing amount of money but it didn’t have the desired effect.

Just five years later Post proclaimed, “Everybody dreams of winning money, but nobody realizes the nightmares that come out of the woodwork, or the problems.”

Post blew through the money with some investments in a restaurant and a fleet of used cars. He also purchased a plane even though he didn’t know how to fly it. A handful of ex-wives sued him. His own brother even hired a hitman to kill him so he could inherit the winnings (he was unsuccessful).

In a matter of months he was forced to file for bankruptcy, surviving on Social Security and food stamps until he died broke in 2006.

When asked about hitting the jackpot after it all went up in smoke, Post later admitted, “I wish it never happened. It was totally a nightmare. I was much happier when I was broke.”

Studies show lottery winners have been shown to be more susceptible to drug and alcohol abuse, depression, divorce, suicide, or estrangement from their family.

I was reminded of Post’s story after reading a recent Conor Sen take on tech billionaires:

I’m not saying these people are all going to blow through their money but it does seem like many of the tech elite who have seemingly “won” the game are increasingly unhappy or unsatisfied.

They spend their time on social media getting into squabbles with one another, complaining about politics or offering cynical takes on the state of the world.

It’s possible I’m reading too much into the Twitter personas of these billionaires but it makes sense.

Having that much money can solve a lot of problems but it also creates a new set of complications, especially when it happens so young.

Buffett didn’t become a billionaire until he was 56 years old. Many of today’s tech titans strike it rich when they’re in their 20s.

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

https://awealthofcommonsense.com/2022/04/why-arent-rich-people-happier/