Does Being Good with Money Make You a Greedy Dragon?

Have you ever been called a “greedy dragon” before?

I hadn’t either before this week.

I recently posted a video on socials talking about how lawyers and professionals should not let leaky toilets prevent them from investing in rental properties.

Apparently, this video struck a nerve with the trolls.

I was called a “bottom dweller”, a “demon”, and my personal favorite, a “greedy dragon.”

I like dragons. So, that last one actually felt like a compliment.

Why does being good with money wake up the trolls?

There’s no shortage of internet trolls out there. And, there’s nothing special about me that caught the attention of the trolls this week.

Haters are going to hate. Trolls are going to troll.

But, there’s an important money lesson to be learned here thanks to the trolls.

You see, these are the types of comments you get from people with limiting money beliefs. They’ve never thought about how money can be used as a tool to build a life of purpose.

Instead, they only think of money as a dangerous weapon to be wielded for evil purposes. They automatically think that people with money are greedy.

The saddest part is that these people would rather exert their energy attacking people than improving their own situations. These are the type of people who are likely to always be controlled by money, instead of the other way around.

Now, I’ll give credit to the internet trolls where credit is due. At least these trolls are not hiding their limiting money beliefs.

That’s a good first step that many of us can benefit from.

You don’t need to stoop to the level of internet troll to have limiting money beliefs. These kinds of attitudes towards money are way more common than you think.

One of my main goals in starting Think and Talk Money is for all of us to confront our limiting money beliefs so we can take control of our lives.

If your relationship with money up to this point has held you back, you’re in the right place by reading this blog.

Another good idea is to read a good money mindset book.

A good money mindset book with help you think of your Money Why.

Money mindset books can help you because they explore the emotional side of money. They will force you to think about money in a way you never have before.

The best money mindset books don’t just talk about the numbers and math of personal finance. That not only makes the books more interesting to read, it also makes them so much more practical in the real world.

Personally, I am striving to build the best life possible for my family. To do that, I need to learn more than just the numbers.

That means I need to be good at not only making money, but also using that money to build a life on my terms. That requires finding a balance, which can be tricky.

To help strike that balance, I’ve studied how others have done it. Then, I can take what I learn and implement those lessons into my own life. 

Here are my favorite money mindset books, in no particular order:

• Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
• The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel
• Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
• The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason
• Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez
• The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley and William Danko
• Die with Zero by Bill Perkins
• Millionaire Milestones by Sam Dogen
• The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins

Being on vacation with family gives you plenty of chances to think about your Money Why.

I highly doubt the average internet troll spends much time thinking about his Money Why.

I’ve been on vacation recently and have had a lot of reminders of my Money Why. Of course, I’ve known my Money Why since I wrote down my Tiara Goals for Financial Freedom on a beach in 2017.

My number one goal is to be with my wife and kids as much as I want. The weird part is I wrote down that goal before I was even married or had kids.

Yes, I want to provide for my family financially. But my Money Why is more than that. I don’t want to just provide money, I want to provide time. I want to be present and share experiences.

To accomplish that goal, I need to be good with money. 

If I’m good with my money, I can achieve financial freedom.

With financial freedom, I can choose how to spend my time. That means I can choose who to spend my time with.

To the Internet trolls, these goals make you a greedy dragon.

What do you think?

Is traveling with three young kids a vacation or just “parenting in a new location?”

Anyone who’s vacationed with young kids knows that it comes with all sorts of challenges. I’ve heard vacationing with young kids described before as “just parenting in a new location.”

There’s some truth to that. Figuring out sleeping arrangements, meals, and activities to keep the kids entertained can be a headache. It’s hard not to think that it would have been easier to just stay at home.

Between the occasional meltdown and the tears, it’s fair to wonder why go through the hassle?

I’ve had these thoughts creep into my head recently while on vacation with my family.

Then, I realized why us parents do it.

It’s to see your five-year-old try over and over again before finally reaching the Little Mermaid diving toy on the bottom of the pool for the first time.

The pure joy on her face when she popped out of the water with the toy in hand is an image I hope I never forget.

It’s to watch your three-year-old play with grandma and grandpa and hearing, “Grandpa, close your eyes!” as he completes his next prank to earn an eruption of laughter.

It’s observing your wife at the playground as she manages a baby in a stroller while simultaneously encouraging her daughter on the swings and helping her son as he climbs too high.

How she does it, and keeps a smile on her face, I’ll never know.

It’s the little moments like this that make it all worth it.

Is being good with money a requirement for these types of memories?

Nah. But, if being good with money gets me more of these memories, I’m all in.

It’s important to think about your Money Why regularly.

Saying that I want to be good with money is not the same thing as saying that I want to be rich.

Funny enough, people who are good with money oftentimes feel rich regardless of what their net worth is.

On the flip side, people who make a lot of money but are not good with money often feel like they’re struggling to get by. As CNBC explained after talking with financial psychologists:

Whether you’re aiming to save more cash or boost your overall earnings, it’s important to ask yourself what you hope to achieve by obtaining more money, Chaffin says. Otherwise, if you don’t change your internal money beliefs, you may still feel anxious about money even if you hit millionaire status.

The takeaway is that it is pointless to make money without stopping to think why you want that money and what you’re going to do with it. 

If you’ve never thought about money that way before, here are three powerful reasons to get you started: 

1. Money can give you choices.
2. Money can give you personal power.
3. Most importantly, money can give you time.

Money is nothing but a tool that you can manipulate to get what you truly want out of life. The thing is, you have to actually think about what you want if you are going to use that tool effectively.

Being good with money does not make you greedy.

Being good with money does not make you a greedy dragon.

Money is nothing but a tool. You can use that tool to build a life on your terms for you and your family.

For my money, there’s no better pursuit than that.

Do you want to be good with money?

What kind of life are you hoping to build?

Let us know in the comments below.