On a Oprah Winfrey show that aired on Friday December 1, 2006, a homeless guest on the show was given $100,000 by a film director. The film director gave him this money as a test to see how he would spend the money. The homeless man did not know that he was going to receive the money when he first got the $100,000. He was only told that he would be filmed as a documentary as to how a homeless man spends his days. It was about the day and life of a homeless person.



The man first found the briefcase with $100,000 in a garbage bin when he was looking for soda cans. This is how he made his money. The man was clearly broke and when he found the briefcase with the money in it, he could not believe it. He actually cried in shock. I was amazed to find out what the homeless man did with the money next.

The man first got himself an apartment and then he bought himself a $32,000 truck. He then bought his friends cars by taking them to a car dealership and having them purchase the car that they wanted. He kept on buying more more stuff and then he gave the money away. Was this a smart thing to do?
Shockingly the film maker also gave him the opportunity to use a financial advisor and counselor for free. The homeless man did not take him up on his offer. He instead spent all of the money on whatever he felt like spending his money on. Surprisingly the homeless man lost everything and he stated that he is back on the streets and homeless again. The sad truth here is that sometimes when you give money to someone, you hope that they would do the best with it. However, we can see clearly here from this example that it is not always true. Have you ever given something to someone and asked yourself if you should have maybe let them work for it instead? When you work for something, you tend to value it more because you knew what it took to make that kind of cash.

The homeless man also stated that when he received the $100,000 he also received a lot of friends. He even got married. Once he lost all of his money, the homeless man claimed that his wife did not want him anymore. Does money bring more friends and influence your power? According to this story, it does. You can make friends easily when you have money to spend on them. Many millionaires will tell you that they can have many friends with their money.
It is safe to say that from this example, money is best when it is earned by yourself and not given to you by another person. Especially not in a lump sum. I encourage you to give this year, but to use wisdom when giving as well.

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Nice write up!