Handling Sudden Wealth

I feel that it is time to start seriously expecting the long awaited flow of abundance to arrive into our individual bubble-realities.  I see that Steve is feeling the same vibe... "All Hands On Deck...All Hands On Deck" shout my Folks-In-The-Rafters.  Mazel Tov, DT

 

By Steve Beckow On 8-13-15

 

Many financial analysts speak about the difficulty of handling sudden wealth. Some call it “money shock”; others “sudden wealth syndrome”; some even liken it to post-traumatic stress disorder. (1)

“Whatever you call it,” says Judy Martel of Forbes, “it’s the overwhelming feeling that the inheritance is about to change your life in ways you can’t even anticipate—and not always in a positive way.” (2)

Some of the not-so-positive ways it may affect us are in the need for increased vigilance and security, the increased sense of responsibility we’ll carry, a shift in the ways we relate as couples and families, possible conflict wthin our families over who gets how much, what everyone else got, and how money is to be spent, resentment from people we turn down, etc.

“One of the biggest reasons people lose a windfall is that they let their emotions take over,” Martel observes. (3)

We’ve been doing intense clearing to prepare us not simply for our financial role but for other roles as well.  What has that involved? It’s meant we’ve recognized our upsets (i.e., letting our emotions take over) as coming from a long-distant past, observed them, allowed them to complete themselves and then let them go.

We haven’t been fooled that our upset has very much to do with the person we’re facing, if anything at all.

But that’s far from foolproof because many vasanas we have are connected to money and won’t go of until our financial situation changes. When my vasanas went off connected to my grandfather, it was the first time I’d even considered them. I’d completely forgotten about them otherwise. So there isn’t a way to prepare for what may hit us, short of remembering how to work with a vasana.

Robert Pagliarini in the Huffington Post reminds us that “there are usually significant and unique financial, tax, and emotional issues that, if not addressed, can cause the money to disappear almost as quickly as it was received.” (4)

Pagliarini says that sudden wealth can be “like being on the ground floor of a 60-story building and rocketing to the penthouse suite in seconds. Sudden wealth means getting more money than you’re used to being responsible for, and getting it all at once.” (5) So perhaps buckle up and wait for the emotional rollercoaster ride to stop before taking your first steps.

360Financialliteracy.org advises, in probaby a little more of a Third-Dimensional way than may feel comfortable to us:

“The first thing you’ll want to do after receiving a large sum of money is to take a deep breath. You may feel the urge to spend, invest, move, quit your job, or give to others. But if you want your windfall to last, don’t do anything until you’ve had a chance to come to terms with the personal and financial consequences. Regrettably, some people who suddenly come into money lose it all within a few years because they fail to plan. Taking the time to make well-thought-out financial decisions will help ensure that your money will last.” (6)

Much of the financial advice we read is very Third-Dimensional. It revolves around service to self rather than service to others. (7) Most of us who’ve volunteered to be financial wayshowers will not be investing the bulk of our money (I won’t be investing any at all, as far as I’m aware).

For sure we’ll hold some back for our own continued well-being but what makes our plans different from people who normally come into a “windfall,” is that a sizeable portion of it is intended to be used in the service of others.

Moreover, we all face the situation of our financial management team possibly thinking we’re crazy because we’re not proceeding out of service to self and “wisely” investing, but rather serving others by sending money out. But that’s what the Company of Heaven wants us to do: (1) get some of our money into circulation and (2) help others.

However they also want us to put money aside for ourselves, for taxes, and for contingencies.
Irving Schorch describes four stages of adaptation to sudden wealth:

“Honeymoon: Like the honeymoon phase of a love relationship, people who first come into money feel powerful and invulnerable. Many go on spending sprees, buying things and making risky investments (often with disastrous results).

“Wealth Acceptance: In this stage, the view of oneself as powerful and invincible is mixed with a sense of vulnerability and the realization for the need to set limits.

“Identity Consolidation: During this stage, people accept that they are rich, but realize that their money doesn’t define them. They begin asking: ‘Who do I want to be?’

“Stewardship: In this phase, people have reached a mature resolution of what their money means to them and have a plan for what to do with it in terms of a personal, familial and philanthropic mission.” (8)

Stewardship is definitely what we signed on for. Spiritual maturity is what we have to offer the world.

Finally, let me leave the last word to Archangel Michael. I asked him on An Hour with an Angel what advice he had for us as we contemplate the arrival of abundance. He replied:

“Do not be precipitous. Stand still. Now that may sound like very amateurish advice. It is one of the most difficult things for human beings to do. Go to the stillness.

“Do not feel the immediate necessity, which is an invention of your imagination and ego, to jump into action. Give yourself the opportunity to breathe, to allow this shift in reality, in what you have described as your personal landscape, to sink in.

“Yes, there is an entire world waiting to be rebuilt and it is not achieved if you jump the gun. It is not achieved if you are going full steam ahead and then collapse because of stress.  Stress is a physical reality.  It is not you simply creating drama. It is a bio-physical, electrical, spiritual reality.

“Give yourself time, yes, to breathe, to withdraw if necessary, to scan the environment, to enjoy yourself, to celebrate and then, in a sense of no hurry, go forward.” (9)

The Golden Age of Gaia will not be offering specific financial advice.  We may discuss generalities but no one here is qualified to actually advise you on how to proceed.  There are a collection of general articles here, including more advice from Archangel Michael and St. Germaine: http://goldenageofgaia.com/financial-wayshowing-reval/.

Footnotes
(1) See for instance, “Overcoming Money Shock” at http://goldenageofgaia.com/financial-wayshowing-reval/post-exchange/overcoming-money-shock/.
(2) Loc. cit.
(3) Loc. cit.
(4) Robert Pagliarini, “Sudden Wealth and Lottery Winners: Six Steps for Handling a Windfall,” Huffington Post, Nov. 29, 2012, at http://goldenageofgaia.com/financial-wayshowing-reval/post-exchange/six-steps-for-handling-a-windfall/.
(5) Loc. cit.
(6)  “Could You Handle a Financial Windfall?”  at http://www.360financialliteracy.org/Topics/Investor-Education/Sudden-Wealth/Could-You-Handle-a-Financial-Windfall.
(7) On service to self and service to others, see Sue Lie’s recent post: “Suzanne Lie: The Return – By The Creators of Our Reality” at http://goldenageofgaia.com/2015/08/10/suzanne-lie-the-return-by-the-creators-of-our-reality/.
(8) Irvin G. Schorsh III,  “Too Much, Too Soon: How to Avoid Sudden Wealth Syndrome<”  Huffington Post, July 7, 2012, at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/irvin-g-schorsch/sudden-wealth-syndrome_b_1652701.html?view=screen.
(9) “Archangel Michael: You are Not Crazy,” June 6, 2015, at http://goldenageofgaia.com/2015/06/06/archangel-michael-you-are-not-crazy/.