Money-Money-Money
Astute readers will have recognized that, although tax issues do dominate many of the topics I cover, I have always been fascinated with all kinds of money related issues. Dealing with taxes is just one aspect of handling money.

Easy Come, Easy Go
Not that it happens to many people; but stories of how people cope with sudden massive wealth have always fascinated me. It's something we all dream about happening to us. We believe it would solve all of our problems and let us relax in leisure for the rest of our lives. We believe that we would be the exception to what appears to be the rule, such as:

Big lottery winners who are too stupid to know better than to leave half a million in cash in an unoccupied car in front of a strip joint.

Thieves Steal Lottery Winner's $545,000

Jackpot winner robbed


Illiterate thug rapists who piss away their hundreds of millions on fancy toys. The only surprise in this story was how he was able to avoid bankruptcy for so long.

Tyson's Bankruptcy Is a Lesson in Ways to Squander a Fortune


The Feel of Cold Hard Cash
I've never been a big fan of gambling, especially slot machines, which give the impression of being random in their outcome, but which are actually programmed by the casinos to regulate the winnings allowed. Even so, there is something quite tactile about the mechanics of the whole process. Putting in the coins. Pulling the handle. Watching the wheels turning. Seeing and hearing the coins gush out for winners. I'm having a hard time understanding how people are able to get the same sensations from the new fangled machines, where you just push a button and winnings are printed on a slip of paper. While the payout percentages probably aren't actually any worse with the new electronic versions of slot machines, it's just too tempting to suspect crooked programming of winners.
- posted by Kerry M. Kerstetter, MBA~CPA~ATP~ATA @ 8/05/2003 02:48:00 PM Send this post: