So glad you are feeling good! Me too!

The lesson in this article is not for everyone. If you believe that money is not important, or that it is evil even? Then bravo for you, says I! Move to a socialist country where the government will give you an apartment and a microwave, and hope they don’t euthanize you once they grow tired of giving to you, or once someone more oppressed needs that apartment worse. I assure you, there is a country just like that not very far away from where you currently reside.

Now then fellow capitalists, let’s get on with Money Management 101. I’ve heard it said that having money only amplifies what you already are. If you are good, money will help you do more good. If you are bad, it will allow you to do more bad.

So there is that. And with that said…

Anyone and everyone can have a million dollars. Here is how:

Spend less than you make.

Work longer, harder and smarter than those around you do, so that you will make even more money.

Hang around smart, hardworking people.

Do not borrow.

Invest what you can from every single paycheck, forever. Einstein called compound interest the greatest of mankind’s inventions. (For those unaware, Einstein was a really smart guy with a really big imagination.)

”But I can’t afford to get in the 401k at work,” you argue? “I live paycheck to paycheck!”

Then you always will live paycheck to paycheck, and you will never have a million dollars.

Smart people create good habits. Good habits create wealth.

Let’s take a minute to look at this big lottery number everyone is talking about, currently up to $1.7B:

Dave Ramsey (who, like Einstein is also probably smarter and richer than we are) says that, statistically speaking, “if you walk one mile to the store to buy a lottery ticket, you have a better chance during that one mile walk of getting hit by lightning… twice… than you do of purchasing the winning ticket when you get there. But if you invest $35 a week in mutual funds, ten reinvest all growth and dividends for thirty years, then you will have somewhere in the area of a million bucks at the end of that thirty years.… every… single… time.

So… if you choose to take that walk to the store for a lottery ticket… and if having money does, in fact, amplify what you already are… then I predict you will blow any winnings and die broke even if you do somehow miraculously buy that winning ticket. The old saying about a fool and his money has survived all these years for a reason.

Whereas if you choose to invest instead, if you learn to appreciate money and what it can do for you and those around you… well, for you I predict more riches than you will ever be able to spend, which is great news for you children, and your grandchildren, and your church, and your community, etc., and the gov’t. will never look to euthanize you and your large income tax contribution.

Thank you for your attention to this matter!

The bell hadn’t even stopped ringing and Ms. Reeves already half turned from the board, red Expo dangling in her hand.

“Alright, juniors. ACT practice. Prompt’s fun and simple: What would you do if you had a million dollars?”

The room groaned in pieces. A chair scraped, somebody coughed.

Ms. Reeves snapped her fingers. “We’ve been over structure all week, so we don’t need to cover that again. What I need now is your ideas... Go.”

The class muttered, a few heads dropping to desks. Jayden had his hood up, arm fully stretched. “Intro—I buy a jet ski. Body one—I buy a second jet ski. Body two—jet ski hockey in my pool. Conclusion—I drown.”

A couple kids by the window lost it, slapping desks.

Ms. Reeves pinched her lips. “Jayden, that’s not a good essay. That’s… a cry for help.”

Alicia had her purple gel pen screeching across the paper. She sat too straight.

“I’d start with wealth as responsibility,” she said, projecting it like a debate team opener. “One: pay for college. Two: cover my friends’ tuition too, so we all make it. Three: invest in something that matters, like medical research.”

“Ugh,” someone muttered.

Marcus didn’t look up, shading another sword in the margin, cross-hatching the hilt.

“Money ruins people. Lottery winners tank. Rich kids don’t get life. A million’s not even much anymore.” He tapped the pencil once. “We’re screwed.”

“Language,” Ms. Reeves said, eyes already elsewhere.

Tiana spun halfway around in her chair, gum popping.

“I’m gonna write about leaving. First body paragraph: new car, red leather seats. Next: penthouse. Next: only chilling with people who treat me like I’m already rich. Conclusion—” she snapped the gum again—“I’m gone.”

Whistles from the back. She grinned with practice.

Then Ben, speaking into his notebook, “Intro's simple: money builds cages. First thought, owning it means it owns you. Second, freedom works backward, it's less not more. Third, the more you stack, the deeper the debt. Wrapping it up? A million's just a prettier prison.”

He went back to drawing circles.

DeShawn leaned back in his chair, grin wide. “Bro thinks he’s in The Matrix.”

The row cracked up. Even Jayden barked a laugh.

Ben just shrugged, eyes still on paper. “Better than drowning on a jet ski.”

That earned a louder laugh.

Then Luis spoke, every word dropping slow, heavy enough to flatten the noise.

“I’d buy my mom a house. One without all those locks. Fix my sister’s teeth. Fix the car that keeps dying on the way to practice. Conclusion…” he scribbled something, “…maybe then we could sleep.”

The room hung open, all of them waiting for someone else to decide how to feel.

Ms. Reeves clapped her hands—gave it a quick close, session over, nothing processed.

“Alright. That’s range. Pick your lane, build it out, five paragraphs.” Fingers snap. Back to business.

Pens hit paper, pages turned, the room pushing forward on routine while words hung unclaimed.

If I had a million dollars it would be in cash.

Id stuff my pockets with money,and perhaps some came out,it would be up for grabs.

I guess it would be up for grabs if i was high above the population.

But I would be on the street, not in my penthouse above the city.

So up for grabs would not be the proper wording, the money would be down for grabs.

Unless there's a wind that day and that changes everything.

Im not for one chasing money in the wind,but if I see another person lose money,I'll do my best to retrieve it.

A million dollars can go along way,especially if you join each bill to another.

Stretching your dollar takes on a a whole new meaning.

A paper line.

Following a paper trail?

Where would it start?

Would i launder the money on my clothes line?

I wonder how many people would borrow from that line?

The higher the currency on one side,you'd thing the line would droop.

Thousand dollar bills on one side,and small one dollar bills on the the other.

I would say in a day or two my money line wouldn't be drooping so much.

If I had a million bucks,

I'll use it in a million ways.

I'll find a building to help the homeless cover on rainy days.

I'll pay my debts and bless someone to pay theirs as well.

I'll pay my mom's hospital bills

Because she has been my shell.

I'll buy clothes and shoes for some children at Red Cross.

I'll pay some school dues for graduates trying to be boss.

If I have any money left,

I would quiet the silent cry.

For those who couldn't buy

Headstone for their love ones in the sky.