Last week I was at a cocktail party for Cake’s wedding and was speaking to my friend Trustfundista about inheritance. She is set to inherit an office building in New York, two houses in London, an apartment in Athens and Moscow, a hotel in Qatar, and three shops in Dubai as well as a ton of money. She is expected to split this with her sister who lives in an all-female commune outside Poughkeepsie in the state of New York. But it looks like her sister will either give it to charity or give it to her. Luckily her sister TrustFundHippy actually likes Trustfundista so it looks that she may give it to Trustfundista to keep or will keep her inheritance herself and allow Trustfindista to manage their empire for a fee. I mean you can be a rich hippy but you can’t be a rich hippy in an all-female commune who manages the company finances. I mean can you imagine? At one point you’re planting tomatoes – at the other point you’re checking the stock market. It just doesn’t go. So it looks like Trustfundista will gain even more cash (note that this conversation was taking place during the time of the recession). So there I am sipping on my drink (an S on the Beach) going crazy saying that I want all the money and how it’s so important and if Trustfundista wants to go into business with me; when my good friend Laverne comes along and remind me that it’s not all about money. I agreed with her, it isn’t all about money. Until I got thinking; it really isn’t all about the money… but it still is. Here’s why. We live in a world where the welfare system is no longer a priority. Europe is the only place where there is an actual welfare/socialist mentality. It is what set’s it apart from the rest of the world; that the state is responsible for the citizen and not that the state is above the citizen. But even in Europe there is a decline in state’s powers. Welfare is only provided to the poor – in the UK the poorer classes actually make more money now by being on state support schemes than working. In Cyprus we see that if you don’t have money, if you’re family does not have money or if you can’t provide for yourself you are screwed; you will not meet your payments, you will not be able to afford food, gas or rent and you will face difficulties. Luckily the family system and even the Church (to an extent) help. But we became a wealthy little place quickly and now we don’t know what to do with ourselves. Ironically on the other hand, Japan, the most money-centric country and one of the world’s financial power-houses, has hardly any class-structure and is described as the world’s best socialist state. How’s that for a contradiction?
Money does not equal happiness; it does not provide the meaning of life; but in today’s world you need money – not for luxuries – but to survive. Especially in our island empire, where prices are increasing but wages remain stationary we need to be resourceful. Our generation will be the last one to see their parents help us so much. How many of you will give your kids land as a wedding gift the way previous generations did? I know I won’t; because it will cost too much. I’m BabyBusinessMan for crying out loud - not BabyDonaldTrump! In Limassol 20 years ago land was sold for 1,000 CYP now it’s worth 100 times that amount. I bet in 20 years time we will see banks offering student loans and more people becoming plumbers and electricians than lawyers and marketers because it will cost less and you will earn more.
So money is important. And it’s also important to remember that it doesn’t equal everything – but it’s a factor – and a factor only the filthy rich can ignore today. So my advice to you; work hard, respect yourself and invest well; invest your time, invest your money and invest in yourself. And remember: money is not everything but it provides something. Don’t fear money but don’t abuse money either. And it doesn’t grow on tree.
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