The secret money code that lottery winners and the rich use each day
Money speaks a different language to some people. We interpret it for you.
If you ever stepped into our home and listened to my wife and I talk, you could be forgiven for thinking we were from another planet. We talk in a secret code.
My wife would ask: "How much was the car servicing this time dear?"
"Seven eighty," I would reply absent-mindedly, flipping through the screen of my iPad.
A few minutes later I would look up from the real estate section and exclaim: "I can't believe they want over two for that place. It doesn't even have a lift!"
"And look at this property - they want one point three for it."
And so it goes on. Have you guessed what we do?
We abbreviate money terms.
Seven eighty is seven hundred and eighty dollars.
Two is two million dollars.
One point three is one million three hundred thousand dollars.
I first heard about it a while back after hearing a prominent real estate investor being interviewed about buying property as just numbers. And what he said makes perfect sense.
"If I thought about the real impact of the amount as dollars," he said, "I wouldn't be brave enough to get out of bed each day."
What the abbreviations do is remove the mental benchmarks we all have in our heads.
Many people on regular wages see their annual income as the largest amount they are familiar with. With lottery winnings, it's almost impossible to comprehend the impact that hundreds of millions of dollars will have on their lifestyle.
So most average wage earners give up striving for it.
For you to move ahead financially you need to think of money merely as an abstract figure. Then it won't be so scary.
Something else that's not too scary is this: how about thirty-nine for the Silver Lotto System for today? Now you know what I'm talking about!
What are you doing right now? Worrying about your dead-end job and the boring week ahead?
How would a nice fifty-four from the lottery change your life like Jeb?