The Pitfalls of New Wealth

You know with all the stories about the amazing response to Memories Pizza after they were forced out of business by an unscrupulous reporter looking to pander to an intolerant,hateful minority (over $800,000 as of this post)  it seems like a good time to consider the unique problems for people with sudden wealth,

Not that I think that the recipients of peoples amazing generosity will be irresponsible with their windfall but because there are,sadly, consequences to suddenly finding oneself somewhat wealthy.

Ex-NFL player Phillip Buchanon shares drawbacks of newfound wealth

~Buchanon's book is, in fact, out, and he was nice enough to give FOXSports.com an exclusive excerpt. Here is Buchanon, discussing how his relationship changed with his mother, once he made it big: 

Soon after the draft, she told me that I owed her a million dollars for raising me for the past 18 years. Well, that was news to me. If my mother taught me anything, it's that this is the most desperate demand that a parent can make on a child. The covenant of having a child is simply that you give your child everything possible, and they owe you nothing beyond a normal amount of love and respect. There is no financial arrangement. If you get old and infirm, and your kids are around to help you out at that point, then you're lucky. It's not written in the social contract. The mothers and fathers of the world have been rearing their kids for generations -- in every culture imaginable -- and it's a one-way street when it comes to money. If they pay you back someday, and you really are going through hard times, then that's just a bonus, a gratuity for being a great mother or father.~

This is an interesting cautionary tale.