What money can do to an individual.

If you are a millionaire, would you give each of your non-working children Five thousand ringgit a month as their allowance? Of course, you can afford it. nobody can deny that! But what are the possible consequences to a developing attitude towards money?

That amount of money is not earned by them. In a way, it is free. There is no worry about repayment. Those children would not need to think twice about purchasing most things, especially when they know the next five thousand ringgit will be coming their way in at the most thirty days' time. With such a sum what is ten, hundred or two hundred ringgit? How many value would they place on their money?

Perhaps it is difficult for most of us who do not get five thousand ringgit a month as pocket money when the average professionals are getting approximately two to three thousand ringgit at the beginning of their career to understand how these young people would feel. For those who are not professionals it could be about a thousand.

So, I would now go to a true story of Malaysians who can afford to give each of their children not just five thousand monthly pocket money but also a Mercedes to drive around. This is a story of someone in Klang. One of the children came out of a university and applied for a job. At the interview, he was told that he would be paid two thousand five hundred ringgit each month. Upon hearing that, the shocked young man told the interviewer that he receives five thousand a month from his parents without putting in any work. Of course, the interviewer told the man he has come to the wrong place if he expects more than the amount they were offering him. They bluntly told him to get a job from his parents. They fear not that he would not accept a position in their company for a man who is so haughty would certainly have no place in a workplace where respect and pay is due to an individual for his ability to perform in the company.

Now pay and pocket money are two totally different things. Pay is given for the expected work of the individual. Pocket money comes from love and responsiblity towards the receiver. Would a person with such a huge amount of pocket money value his post in a company which is only willing to value his work at two thousand five hundred ringgit? It would obviously be difficult. Such an employee would not have second thoughts about quitting for any slight disagreement, discomfort or misunderstanding. Such a person can never be an asset to the company.

Of course, since the parents are millionaires and must be owning a big company, getting a job is not a problem as he could easily be absorbed into the parents' company. But, if all the children are expecting the parents' company to give them top posts and big pay, will they be an asset to their own company? Well, frankly, we can never know. I have heard of sibling quarreling over positions and money and how such companies can collapse. However, there are also those that went from strength to strength.

No matter what can possibly happen, cultivating the right attitude towards money is important as money management is just as important as other managements in life.

Tomorrow I shall tell you about an ex-student and his attitude towards studies as a result of great wealth splurged on him at a very young age.