[Good Rich, Bad Rich] Why Overnight Riches Don’t Last

One day in 1982, an American named Curtis Sharp won a $5 million lottery prize. In Korean won, that amounted to an astronomical sum of about 56 billion won. Naturally, he became fabulously wealthy, the kind of rich most people only dream about.

And yet, now, some 20 years later, he has declared bankruptcy. He has been reduced to pennilessness, gone through two divorces, and even his son is in prison. He could not turn away the many hands extended toward him, and he himself spent lavishly as well.

There are many ways to acquire a great deal of money. You might win the lottery, or inherit it from your parents. But people who remain rich for a long time share one common trait: they spend far less than they earn. Even if someone is rich now, if they spend more than they make, they will soon end up poor.

A true rich person—someone who remains wealthy for a long time—not only earns a great deal of money but also spends it sparingly. Interviews with wealthy people confirm this as well: rich people are often extremely frugal and tightfisted. Earning money matters, but not spending it is also an essential virtue for becoming rich.

That is why people who suddenly come into wealth often find it hard to stay rich for long. They have not learned the ability and habit of preserving their money. Even those who win lottery jackpots worth billions or tens of billions of won often end up destitute, clearly showing how difficult it is to acquire such ability and habits.

The rich are people who have reached the highest level in the art of accumulating money. They are people thoroughly obsessed with money. They do not turn down any opportunity to earn it. Their greatest pleasure comes from seeing their assets grow and their bank accounts fill up. To become truly wealthy, one must give up many other pleasures. The saying that nothing in this world is free is no exception when it comes to the process of becoming rich.

In truth, this applies to everything. To become an outstanding athlete, one must align every aspect of life with training. If you live more or less the same way as everyone else, then naturally your athletic performance will end up much the same as theirs. Exceptional athletic ability is the result of giving up everything unrelated to the sport. Whether one is an athlete, an artist, or a wealthy person, goals can be achieved only by staying focused and steadily walking one’s own path without distraction.

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Original title: [좋은 부자, 나쁜 부자] 벼락부자가 오래 못가는 이유

Author: Center for Free Enterprise (CFE)

Date: 2007-12-17

Source: https://www.cfe.org/bbs/bbsDetail.php?cid=column&pn=19&idx=10701