When asked about how a million dollars could change a person’s life, most would concentrate their thoughts on just how much their bank account would grow and how they’ll be able to pay off all of their debts. Still, a million dollars not only changes what kind of investment offers you receive from your bank, but it also changes many other things that you may not notice during your high as a new millionaire.
If people know you’re wealthy, they will be extra nice to you. You wouldn’t have to initiate the conversation just to make friends, they will be the first to come to you! This is because they have their own agendas, and those plans have your newly earned million as the central point of interest.
At work, if you ever choose to continue working, even your boss might change his tone of voice while talking to you. Instead of the insensitive ways by which he critiqued your work before, he’d be courting you to have lunch or dinner with him just so he could talk to you about a new project that he’s planning. No more making coffee for him. No more going to the Chinese restaurant just to pick up his lunch. No more activities that aren’t exactly part of the deal when you signed up with their company. Of course, your money is involved.
If you’re a student, watch your popularity soar. Suddenly you’re the “life” of countless parties that everyone voted for you to be the host of. Guys and gals from different classes would magically be friends from long ago despite you not remembering any details about them at all. You’re suddenly exempt from bullying because the bullies have become your buddies. Every lunch hour you’d be taken to fine restaurants by your new friends, but of course, it’s always going to be your treat. Every weekend you’d be invited to movies and other fun stuff, again, your treat.
After being treated like a king by your officemates or classmates, you’d suddenly find out that a few long lost relatives have found you with the help of modern technology (they googled the name of the latest naive millionaire) and want to form strong familial bonds once again even though they never cared to do so when you were poor. Strangely, they’d refuse any attempt to use DNA testing on them to prove that they are indeed relatives, and reason out by sticking to their principle that “family should never doubt each other”.
Having a million dollars could also change your spending habits, and this is the trap that most new millionaires suffer from. Before, you might spend $5 at most for a day’s meal, but with your new found wealth, you might be inclined to spend more to eat at fancy restaurants. Some people actually pay for a $50 hamburger! It might not seem much, but even for a millionaire, continuous spending of $50 a day could potentially cause problems. That’s $18,000 a year just for food for one person alone. The problem is that as a millionaire, your spending habits won’t be limited to just food, but also to more expensive stuff such as multiple electronic devices that might cost $400 each or even new cars.
Another way that a million dollars could potentially wreck your life is by suddenly transforming you into a big juicy target for kidnappers. If you always show off your wealth, kidnappers will quickly profile you as a good source of money. You’d be forced to spend money to have your own bodyguard and live worrying each day that you might get kidnapped.
Being a millionaire opens up a lot of opportunities, but it is also cursed by the fact that it is also a very strong magnet to human greed. If people know that you’re a millionaire, it would be very hard to tell who is really a sincere friend and who’s sticking around just so you can splash them with some of your money. If you ever do become a millionaire, keep it a secret. You might not be able to show off, but at least you’ll be able to afford the car wash fee and save yourself from back pain.
