It's easy to spot someone that is going to stay poor forever.

All you have to do is tell them they have their choice between a one time lump sum of $250,000 or $5000 per week for the rest of their lives. The chronically poor are likely to take the lump sum while the successful will opt for the weekly payout.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist with a degree in calculus to figure out that the break even point is fifty weeks and that by the end of the first year the person that took the payouts is $10K ahead.

It wouldn't take Sherlock Holmes to to be able to see who took the lump and who took the payment, either. Most likely the person that took the lump would have a new, slightly dinged up expensive car, a boat and a Winnebago in front of their hovel amid a pile of booze bottles and  trash.

The person that took the payout is more apt to live in a decent, well kept home and would likely have a modest car in the driveway.

While the person that had the brains to take the payout may crank up their life style a bit, it's pretty likely they would continue to live within their means. Meanwhile inside of less than a year the guy that opted for the lump will likely be broke again.

I wrote once that poor people have poor ways and it isn't the income one has so much as the way they spend it that's the difference between poverty and a decent lifestyle. Dig it up if you want.

Still, it's the truth. Poor people are generally poor because they have poor ways. 





To find out why the blog is pink just cut and paste this: http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-feminine-side-blog-stays-pink.html NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE WRITING OF TODAY'S ESSAY