Goodbye 04-06-05

Almost every successful, rich person I know (including many famous names you would recognize) has had extreme financial ups and downs. But, they always weather these storms because their true wealth is what they have between their ears. If you have the right stuff between your ears, you may find yourself temporarily broke... but... you will never be poor. That's because you will always have the most valuable money-making asset in the world and it can never be taken away from you. (Well, short of death or having a lobotomy.)

I live in Miami. People from other countries (mostly Cuba) come ashore on the east coast of Florida every day. Now I want you to imagine two men, totally exhausted from their week long journey aboard their inner-tube raft, finally step ashore on the beaches of Miami. They are now in the United States of America.

One of these men was formerly a dishwasher who worked at a hotel in Cuba. He managed to steal a million dollars from the hotel and the guests of the hotel. He was able to get to America with that money safely strapped to himself in a waterproof container.

But the other guy came ashore with absolutely nothing except the torn T-shirt and shorts he was wearing. He didn't have a penny, a peso or any other kind of money. But this poor chap was a brain surgeon in Cuba.

Now let's fast forward five years and take another look at those two men...

My guess is the dishwasher/thief will be broke. I'll bet he'll have spent almost all his money on drugs, prostitutes, insanely impractical expensive cars (like Lamborginies), and in general, carelessly scattered his money to the wind. And since he doesn't know any skills to make money (except washing dishes), he'll probably turn back to crime. This being Florida, the nature of that crime will probably be some type of involvement in the drug trade. And, since he was never the sharpest knife in the drawer to begin with, entering the drug trade will most likely have gotten him imprisoned or even murdered.