I insist that this is not clickbait because I clarified in the title that I am not telling anyone how to get rich. If you are familiar with the movie “All the money in the world” then you might have come across the scene where Mr. Getty, the billionaire (true story) shared his views on being rich. He explained that any number of fools can get rich but the real difficulty is when you are overwhelmed by the freedom you will get when you are rich. Coming from a real-life character, the actor really expressed the torment that he went through being rich and watching how “parasites” swarmed around him all his life. Evidently, showing the less attractive side of being rich. While many of us will still readily accept all these negative consequences of being rich, I feel it will be meaningful for us to consider the “difficulties” of a rich person’s life.

Freedom (associated with the rich) is a double edged sword

For a regular person, the choice is almost non-existent, as their options are almost always limited by price and accessibility. However, for a rich person, such consideration will be completely different, because they will be constantly challenged to make the most logical decision even when they can afford most things. Now many of us will think that rich people will come to such a conundrum as there is simply no consequence for a rich person to consume extravagant options in life. While that might be true for some of them, the rest of the rich might still find it hard to spend frivolously. It all boils down to how the rich person got there, if they have had gone through many trials before hitting the “jackpot” then I think it is hard for them to spend excessively on everything. That’s not all, beyond the pains of making everyday decisions. rich people also have to make extraordinary decisions that can potentially affect the well-being of others.

Rich people often attract the wrong group of people

The analogy that I will be using as an example will be house flies flying around you while you are trying to concentrate on your task. Being rich often means that other people will be more willing to pay attention to you in hope that they will benefit from their encounters with you. Again, while this might even be envied by non-rich people as they desire more attention to be on them, this excitement will quickly die off once you realized that those remarks and attitudes towards you are not genuine. This is exacerbated when it is your extended family who is trying to use your reputation and wealth for their own benefit.

It is harder to impress others when you are rich

The assumptions attached to rich people often render their accomplishments pointless as others will assume that they bought their way into it rather than earning it themselves. Hopefully, this does not sound like a sweeping statement but wouldn’t it be more believable for a poor person to achieve pretty much anything significant compared to a person from a richer background. Imagine a lifetime of accomplishments being downplayed just because you are rich. No wonder some rich people become completely apathetic on the outside towards the common folk. Perhaps it is because they have given up trying to mingle with the rest of the world.

Closing Thoughts

Although many of us who are from less fortunate backgrounds will be the first to sign up if there is a get rich instantly button, will we actually be happy when we get there and have settled into the new lifestyle? Behind all that attention and glamour, will we still be able to live life freely as we have imagined when we weren’t as wealthy? Or will there is layers of expectations and judgements attached to every decision we make? Personally, I think this is something for us to ponder about as it might be key to a higher level of contentment if we are still far from our ideal goal in terms of wealth.