I remember exactly two years ago when I was still in the rat race, while I was getting coffee during break time, I heard some of my officemates talking about people who were rich like they were the scourge of the earth. It was like they were blaming rich people for their woes which in my opinion is totally wrong.
- Image by Toban Black via Flickr
After I had put sugar in my coffee, I immediately walked away with mug in hand to avoid a clash of ideas. I really wanted to voice my opinion against what they were saying but I was able to control myself, fortunately.
As I walked back to my desk, It occurred to me that these guys might never become rich because they hate rich people.
The logic behind this thinking is if you hate rich people, then you definitely don’t want to be like them. If you don’t want to be like them, then you most certainly won’t think and act like them and this will happen either through conscious or subconscious decisions that you would be making.
Am I making any sense?
Of course, people who get rich at the expense of others is a totally different story and should not be admired or emulated.
There is nothing wrong with becoming rich…
I firmly believe that there is nothing wrong with becoming rich as long as it is for the right reasons and purpose. In fact, it would actually help put us in a better position to make a difference in this world we live in.
Nevertheless, I have not lost hope for my officemates, I believe that all they need is just a change in mindset. Believe it or not, I once had the same thinking before, similar to what I mentioned in my previous post: Is it really possible to gain financial freedom through real estate investing?
Lastly, I would like to quote a line mentioned by Bo Sanchez during a recently held Think Rich Pinoy Seminar:
“The ultimate purpose of getting rich is to be a blessing to other people.”
Don’t you agree?
—
I was inspired to write this after my wife shared something very similar and I remembered that I already wrote something like this before. I checked and was surprised to find out that I wrote this in my old blog exactly 2 years ago today. What a coincidence!
To our success and financial freedom!
Jay Castillo
Real Estate Investor
Real Estate Broker License #: 3194
Blog: https://www.foreclosurephilippines.com
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Text by Jay Castillo and Cherry Castillo. Copyright © 2010 All rights reserved.
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Hi Jay,
We keep talking about rich and poor, but have we defined who are rich and who are poor?
Mayaman na ba ako kung makawala ako sa rat race (office work), at mapunta sa sariling negosyo that I personally manage at nag spend ng time na double pa when I was in the Corporate world?
Am I rich only if I belong to the taipans?
Am I poor even if I earn passive income of only 200K monthly, but still have four kids to send to school?
Kelan ako mayaman, at sasabihin ko sa sarili ko na I can retire without expecting financial help from my kids.
Thanks and regards,
Hi Godeng,
Thank you for the comment, the timing is perfect as I am trying to learn as much as I can right now on how I can turn real estate investing into a worthwhile business and as a vehicle to help achieve financial freedom for my teammates.
Being “rich” would actually depend on how we define it.
I would start by giving my own definition of being “truly rich” which is synonymous to being “financially free”. I would say that I am rich if I am able to fulfill all of my obligations and provide the needs of my family, without the need to have a 9 to 5 job.
I know that I would still not be rich even if I were able to build a real estate business that can earn more than enough, but would earn nothing the moment I stop doing the various tasks needed by the business to work. Such business that will not work without me is not really a business I own, it’s just a job which I would happen to own.
My example above is the kind of business I would rather avoid as it is even worse than being an employee, because I would end up doing so much more work and spend so much more time, just to make the business work.
If we are able to create a business that works, even without us, where we own it, but don’t need to run it, as it has been setup in such a way that it will work even without us, and it earns for us more than enough to sustain our family’s needs, then we can say we are “truly rich”.
I believe that if the same setup was done to your “negosyo”, where it works even without you, then you can say you are already rich, as long as it truly earns passively, and it would not matter if you had to send four or forty kids to school as long as your negosyo earns more than enough, and you can even retire without expecting anything from your kids.
I guess the question that needs to be answered is “What can I do so that my business/negosyo can work without me?”
I’ll expound on this further through another article.I would love to hear your thoughts on my answers above. Thanks for dropping by! Cheers!
Its really not the rich who are the problem, but the rich people who are greedy and never satisfied. They keep on taking something intended for others. If only they know how to share then there would be no problem because others will be able to share in the booty, however small………..thanks jay for making foreclosure phils. the biggest and informative website for REIT’s, etc.
Hi Greg, thanks for the insights, you hit the nail on the head. Greed is the problem, not rich people. We simply cannot generalize that rich people are crooks, although there are rich people who either became rich because of greed or became greedy when they had a taste of being rich. These are only a small minority however and most are really good people. Thank you also for the compliment and for dropping by!
Hi Jay,
People want to feel better of themselves by hating others, mostly they hate on rich people. It’s our culture; putting down other people.
Never acknowledging the rich people on the hard work they put in, the employment they create, their creativity. Some people focus on the negative aspects of rich people, which is the easiest excuse for them to be able to say that “we are better”.
I think its just your office mates way of making themselves feel better. I’m sure deep inside they want to be rich someday.
I just hope people would focus more on the positive side of the rich people, because what the rich people do good outnumbers the bad. Except for those whose wealth are ill gotten.
Hi Victor, thanks for sharing and i totally agree that we should all learn to focus on the positive side and the good, not just of rich people but all people in general. What we focus on grows and hopefully it would also grow in ourselves. Thanks again for dropping by!
This is so true. I’ve seen people think that the rich are “evil”, some even insinuate that economics is like a see-saw i.e. “as the rich get richer, the poor get poorer”.
When I meet people like these I tell them to analyze what they just said. Isn’t it that when the rich get richer, they make businesses and therefore give more jobs to the poor? And following their logic, does it mean that the opposite is true? That when the rich get poor, the poor get richer??
Alas you can’t truly blame these people as they don’t have first hand experience on being rich and resort to superficial reasonings. Come to think of it, some can’t be taken seriously as they follow the self defense mechanism “hate what you cannot achieve”.
Hi Tony, thanks for sharing your thoughts and insights. I just hope and pray that people will have a more open mind to realize that this defense mechanism and way of thinking is actually one big stumbling block which has to be hurdled sooner or later to move forward. Cheers!
Dear Sir Jay,
Thank you for posting this blog. It reminded me again to use my subconscious mind. Your blogs are very useful and informative.
Helen
Hi Helen, you’re welcome and thank you also for dropping by and for the compliments. Cheers!
Sir jay, i love reading your blogs and i thank God for leading me to your site a month ago while searching @ google for lists of foreclosed properties in top banks here in the phils. Im also very happy to know that Bo Sanchez’s, as i can read in some of your blogs, is one of your mentors. Im a fan of his and he encourages us from his spiritual community to be truly rich. Sir Jay, you and your site is a blessing to me and because of that i will share your blogs to my friends. Together, lets run towards financial freedom. God bless you more!
Hi Mavie, thank you so much for the kind words and I’m so glad that you found my blog. Yes, Bo is such an inspiration and through him i found the missing piece in my quest for financial freedom, which is to believe that there is nothing wrong with wanting to be rich. Thanks and may God bless you and your family even more! By the way, no need for “Sir”… hehe!
nice blog Jay!
Can I copy this blog and share it to my friends as a testimony of someone who is successful.
.-= Gladis´s last blog ..The Business Building Seminar Experience =-.
Thanks Gladis! I really appreciate the compliment. Yes, of course, feel free to share this to your friends. Thanks!
Hi Guys!
Hi Jay! Thanks for your insight to this very intriguing but wonderful topic.
Yes, I agree that a person who hates the RICH can NEVER be rich because he will not want to be rich. And the scary thing is that I believe a person is judged in the same way that he judges others. So, if one judges a person and says “you are a fool”, the Bible says that you shall be judged accordingly. The Bible also says that whatever you sow, you shall reap. And what’s more is that you reap a harvest of 30, 60 or 90 times more. Thus, if one sows a seed of love, he reaps a harvest of love 30, 60 or 90 times greater. Unfortunately, this universal law is also true to those who sow evil intentions, like judging others, resentments, hatred and revenge. Whatever you sow, you will reap an abundant harvest. I just pray that we will choose to sow good seeds!
On the topic of being rich, I believe in my heart that God want us to be rich. It is His character. God is GREAT. God is ALMIGHTY. By the way, we are made in His image and likeness. If we don’t live to become rich, not only monetarily, but in love and in everything that’s good and worthy, then it would be against the very character of our Great God. Besides, did you know that the richest man on earth is from the Bible… His name is Solomon, and he just happens to be the wisest man in the world.
There are a lot of rich men in the Bible: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Solomon, Daniel. There’s is a long list…
The problem is that we’ve been hearing about a “half truth” (which is basically a big lie) when some people say that it is impossible for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven… Yes this is true. But this statement is only half of the story. These verses actually ended with Jesus saying “With man it is impossible, but with God, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE.” I believe that Jesus wants us to be wealthy in all aspects of life. In my opinion, the key to greatness or misery lies in a person’s answer to the question, “Who gets all the glory for your greatness (wealth and fame)?” Is it you or God. I hope our answer is God, because He is the giver of wealth.
God bless and I pray that we all live to become truly wealthy.
Bryan
.-= Bryan Uy´s last blog ..Housing Microfinance Loans for Rural Banks Approved =-.
Hi Bryan, thanks a lot for sharing your thoughts, learned so much from it! I might just make a follow up post on this, thanks and God Bless!
Bro, can’t wait for your next one.:) It’s just a wonderful thing reading your posts.
God bless!
.-= Bryan Uy´s last blog ..Housing Microfinance Loans for Rural Banks Approved =-.
I agree with Jay, we are raise from the wrong mindset on how we look at the money and rich people. A lot of news and tv series portrays that rich are miserable and there life is in ruin. It is true that money can buy a house and not home, but can we put it into a good perspective, having a nice house and a home it depends really on the person living there and not with the money right?. I have also the same thinking few years ago that rich are having low moral values but i am wrong. if we look at the greatest philantrophist, they are the rich people and they are producing thousand jobs , isnt that good? I remember that “there are things that money will work and there isnt” but it will affect the essential things in our life. Love the rich people and be one of them to change our society.
Hi Riko, thanks for the comment and for sharing your thoughts on this. Cheers!
We do not really hate rich people. We dislike the things they do once they are already rich. Hate the money, not the person. Money can really change a person’s moral values. Money can buy a house, but not a home. It can buy sex, but never love. It can buy anything except our souls. Forgive me for being so damn “priestly”, but that’s the reality, don’t you think?
.-= Jun´s last blog ..Invest in Delhi Residential Property =-.
Hi Jun, sorry but I would have to disagree.
If there are rich people who do bad things with their money, then that is really something that should be looked down upon. Money is just a tool and it is up to the person who has it to do good or bad. It really depends on the moral values of that person. Granted there are rich people who might be using their money for no good, but there are also poor people who do that right?
There are also a lot of rich people who actually make use of their money to do good for society and we should not forget this.
Money can buy a house but not a home, but how can you be happy if you had no house and had to live on a sidewalk because you had no money to buy or at least rent a house or a place to live? It would be so much easier to make a home out of a house if one had money to buy/rent one.
Money can buy sex but never love, but how can someone fall in love with you if you can’t even make a good impression to begin with and sustain the courting process because you had no money? How can parents approve their daughter’s love for someone who does not even have the means to provide for her needs? Sure, money is not the only criteria. Love, compatibility, etc., and other factors should also be considered but money is still important.
Yes money cannot buy everything, including our salvation, but in reality, money is still needed to support our church right? Same goes for other worthy causes. Money can really help us do good, it can give us the means. I’m sure we have all had the experience of wanting to help but could not because we ourselves also lack money. You might say we can help through other ways like giving our time, but how can we help if most of our time is spent trying to earn money to sustain our family’s needs?
Money may not be everything but in reality, it ultimately affects just about everything in our lives. Money is a tool and it is up to us to use it for good or for bad, the choice is ours to make.
I appreciate your thoughts on this. Thanks for stopping by, cheers!
Thank you for this inspiring message. Money is part of God’s creation and absolutely it is good.
You’re welcome Edna and thank you also for sharing!
Hi Jay,
I totally agree with you. Yan ang laging tinuturo ko sa aking mga anak. They should always aim to be rich, very rich when they grow up. When you are rich then you will have all the means to help those in need.
Hi Coly, thanks for the insights and for visiting!
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