Do poor people make bad financial decisions? Sometimes. Do wealthy people make bad financial decisions? Sometimes. Are poor people viewed by society as less intelligent? Most of the time. Intelligence is often associated with wealth, but it is a distant relationship. Ingenuity and ambition can bring wealth, but intelligence, on its own, cannot. Many brilliant people will never have wealth, but then again wealth may not be their goal. Let’s not make the assumption that wealth is the ultimate goal in life.
I encourage you to examine your thoughts on people that have very little means. Have you devalued them as an individual? I know that I have unfortunately done this in the past at certain times in my life. I blog about money and budgeting because you should strive to make the most of your situation. You shouldn’t necessarily strive to make a large amount of money.
***Unrelated side note: I ate a banana that had been sitting in my hot car the other day. Hot bananas aren’t good. I don’t know how monkeys pull them right off of the tree and eat them. Creationism just got another point. No human would knowingly eat a hot banana.
Peter Dunn a.k.a. Pete the Planner® is an award-winning financial mind and a former comedian. He’s a USA TODAY columnist, author of ten books, and is the host of the popular radio show and podcast, The Pete the Planner Show. Pete is considered one of the foremost experts on financial wellness in the world, but he’s just as likely to talk your ear off about bass fishing.