Money lessons from the book of Proverbs: Part 3

Part 3: Beware of get-rich-quick schemes

Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies will have their fill of poverty. A faithful person will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished. (Proverbs 28:19-20 NIV)

There are four things that I would like to discuss from the Scripture above. Namely; work or hard work, chasing fantasies, faithfulness, and get-rich- quick schemes. Interestingly, all these four things have their rewards.

1. Work your land

Work your land, work your trade, invest in skills, grow and improve . Be better than you were yesterday. Acquire experience and build confidence. Dare to try new and better ways of doing things. Be efficient and also work smarter. This is the only way to get ahead in this ever changing environment. Old ways of doing things won't work. These days you have to do more with less. No one is interested in problems, offer solutions. And the reward for this is abundant food. Those who 'work their land' will not experience lack.

2. Chasing fantasies 

Fantasy is defined as an idea with no basis in reality. It is a nice dream, unfortunately that's all there is to it. It is just one big wish without prospect of implementation. Basically it is a dream that never see the light of day. It's like clouds that never give rain. Fantasy has great promise but delivers nothing. A nightmare is better because at least you want to wake up and end it. With fantasy you don't want to wake up, you want to savor every moment. The only problem is that there is no material change in your circumstances.

Unfortunately fantasies will take us nowhere. The reward thereof is only poverty as stated by our headline Scripture. The tiniest of action is better than the greatest intention. Great dreamers are those who dream during the day, with their eyes wide open. Those whose dreams have plans, program of actions and time frames.

3. Faithful person

Many people want to be blessed and not be cursed. Here, the Bible says a faithful person will be richly blessed. Who or what manner of a person is this? How can one be faithful and attain this promise? 

Marks of a faithful man

I believe the Bible here refers to a person who is trustworthy and dependable. A person who will deliver a project on a set budget and time.  Ask yourself these questions; Can you deliver on expected results? Is your word your bond? Do you meet deadlines? Are you dependable? Do you show up? Are you responsible? If the answer is on the affirmative, then you have proved yourself faithful. And your reward is rich blessings.

4. Get-rich-quick schemes

Get rich quick schemes in all their types and manifestation are the paradox of our time. They promise riches but delivers lack and poverty. It's like promising rain and delivering a drought. Many a good fellow have lost all that they had in pursuit of get-rich-quick schemes. People were promised great returns, multiplication of their monies, only to lose the little that they had. Bible cautions, " one eager to get rich will not go unpunished." 

Dismantling get-rich-quick schemes

Personal finance literature is full of warnings against get-rich-quick schemes. They normally say, " if something is too good to be true, it is probably not true." However, these schemes have not stopped operating and continues to victimize people, both rich and poor. The rich are trapped into these schemes because they appeal to their greed. While the poor are trapped due to desperation to escape poverty. 

By and large, these scheme have succeeded because of targeting the weakness of people. They sell you the reward without telling you the risk. They tell you about doubling your money, while in truth you are about to lose your last penny.

When approached by these schemes, please ask the following questions;

1. How does the scheme generate income?

2. What assets are they investing in?

3. What service are they providing?

4. What is the product they are selling?

5. Are they a registered business, or financial service provider ?

If the answers you receive are negative, run with your money. This is my best advise, RUN.



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