Has Greed Become a Synonym for Money?

Now nobody should get it twisted in any way — I’m still all about the money and we’re still all about the money here on TheMoneyGuy, particularly that money which never sleeps and always keeps working for you while you sleep, perhaps. With the way in which the global economy is going however and all the scandals, regulatory changes, bailouts and political stances taken by many people all over the world, the question that naturally develops surrounding money and our general approach to it is indeed whether or not money hasn’t become interchangeable with greed. Has greed become a synonym for money?

Generally, every suggestion points towards this being totally true. They are two terms with different definitions in the dictionary, but at almost any given point you could interchange money for greed in explaining an economic principle. Even worse, you can do that when explaining an economic or financial principle that’s playing out in full action and not just theoretically.

I mean think about it — when the financial advisors of this world talk to you about putting money away for your retirement, the general notion is that the more you have the better off you’ll be, is it not? Whether you choose to admit it or not, you’d much rather have a nice retirement pot of £5 million as opposed to one of £2 million, right, in the same way that you’d much rather have one of £6 million over one of £5 million, right?

It takes an epiphany of some sorts on a personal level to make a success out of mastering the distinction between greed and money however, although it can’t hurt to have the process started by someone else’s mere mention of it. It is those who have mastered this distinction between money and greed who eventually go on to build a better relationship with money, ironically learning how to make even more, but more importantly, learning how to get the most value out of every penny they interact with.

When you can separate your desire to earn or generate money from the blind greed of just wanting to accumulate money for the sake of having stockpiles and stockpiles of cash, you begin to enjoy much more value out of everything you do and you get much more value out of every penny you spend. This applies to all spheres of economic activity, be it entertainment, the provision of basic needs, your professional life, etc. Think about the two different types of gamblers — who wins more money in their lifetime? Is it the greedy gambler or the one who knows when to stop and walk away?

A simple example that applies to the gambling analogy is that of the smart gambler using something like a Betfair bonus code to learn more about the online betting platforms they use to do a bit of online gambling and bet on sports perhaps, whereas the greedy gambler would perhaps blow all that bonus credit on making a seriously big bet with the hope of scoring one major hit.

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