kane

I would venture to guess if you gave most poor and typical middle class people a million dollars they would blow through it pretty quickly.

Part of that is because it doesn't seem real while also seeming endless. When you struggle to get by on $20K a year then suddenly have a million dollars most people would get overwhelmed by it. They would spend like crazy because it would feel like all the money in the world.

Some of that is simply how they were raised and educated and some of it is simple lack of experience with it.

If you work your ass off and earn that money it didn't happen overnight. The odds are it took years to accumulate. During that time you got an education of sorts in how to deal with it so you are in a good place to do so when you get it.

Every year all the major pro sports leagues hold a rookie conference where they have advisers come in and talk to the new rookies about how to deal with their money. Every year they tell them to invest in safe, boring things and every year many of them try to open restaurants, record labels and clothing lines and burn through their money.

I firmly believe they should have at least a year long class in high school that teaches every student how money works, how investments work and how to grow personal wealth while managing their money.