It is often thought that the more money someone possesses the happier they are, but this is not the case, as history proves this theory to be wrong. I am a person who observes the world, and I try not to make the same mistakes I see in society. I’m practical when it comes to most things in life, especially money. I’m the kind of person who spends, but spends wisely. I also know how to save and budget myself, and I certainly know the value of money. Because of this, I believe that true wealth is having enough for a comfortable standard of living and for myself, this an ideal not even 20 million dollars could change.
I was born and raised in Maspeth, a middle-class neighborhood in Queens, New York, but my parents grew up in the Irish country side with little luxuries. Looking to have a better future, they moved to New York in the ’80s to fulfill their own American Dream. Similar to the people who came to New York at the turn of the 20th century, they had nothing but the shirts on their backs and were willing to work hard to build their lives. They succeeded, and for the past 25 years my father has worked as a carpenter and my mother as a Catholic school teacher. As hard as they work day in and day out and as tight as money was throughout my life, they were always putting themselves out on a limb to make sure my brother and I had comfortable lives. But they made sure they taught us the value of money and that happiness is brought about not by how much money you have, but what you do with it.
Like my family, everyone aspires to achieve the American Dream, but the original dream is one that has now greatly changed. When the idea of the American Dream was first developed, it meant that opportunities should be offered to everyone in order to be able to achieve prosperity and success. The American Dream used to be one of working hard to achieve a comfortable standard of living, but today it is about fame and fortune, and things that were luxuries in the 21st century have become needs. Today, the more materialistic one is the closer they are to success, so instead of looking up to the heads of industries, people now aspire to be like celebrities and famous athletes who focus their energy on redeeming more wealth.
The worst part of living in a highly capitalistic society like the United States is that with money comes power, and people who are rich often feel as if they are above the law, and that since they are wealthy, they always will be. Celebrities are perfect examples of how quick rises to the top often result in quick downfalls. For example, MC Hammer was an American rapper who made is claim to fame between the late 1980’s and the early 1990’s. During this time, Hammer was excessively spending money on his family and friends. But as the music world began to shift and the public became bored with Hammer’s music, he fell behind on paying loans and keeping up with the lavish lifestyle he tried to maintain. In 1996 he filed bankruptcy and sold many of his assets for a fraction of their buying price. What Hammer failed to realize is that just because you possess money doesn’t mean you should constantly be spending it, and that it is important to budget and make wise investments.
The biggest fantasy that goes along with receiving so much money out of nowhere is that one would never have to worry about expenses again, but life is random and this is not always the reality of everyone’s situations. Knowing how many celebrities have crashed and burned from improper spending, I know that if I came into money I would try not to make the same mistakes they did. The happiness of money can last as long as you make it last and the way I was brought up, I believe that the happiness of that money would never wear off as I would use it wisely.
With this in mind, if I won 20 million dollars the first person I would call would be my mother. As cliché as that sounds, she really is the most profound individual in my life, and she will always be my first priority. I would give 7 million to my parents in order for them to be able to purchase a nice house and be financially stable enough to no longer have to work as hard as they do. Then, I would secure enough of my money so that if anything ever happened, I would never be in financial trouble. As I’m only 17 years old, I think it would be smart to take about 7 million and put it into trusts that I wouldn’t be able to open until I was at least 21. This would budget the money well seeing as I wouldn’t be able to spend it right away. I know I would split at least two million between multiple charities and I would also take a million to ensure I had enough money to for all my college expenses. This would be a huge relief as that’s one of the most daunting things about the college process.
Even though I would be practical about my money use, I would also want to have fun. I would take about $500,000 to go on the biggest shopping spree of my life and buy a whole new wardrobe of clothes. With my last three and a half million dollars I would tour the world. I’ve always been interested in travel and educating myself of different cultures, cuisines, and fashions. Although I would be having the time of my life, I would never loose sight of the fact that money does not control one’s happiness.