How hard is it to trust your new friends when you are wealthy?
I've not experienced this personally yet, but I had a mentor who did.
This is part 4 of 4 of a series called, “Moments that Make a Difference”.
In case you missed it, here’s part 1, 2, and 3.
Next week, I start a new series called, “How to Work on Yourself” about ways I used to get stuck from making progress and how I got unstuck.
My mentor recently just celebrated his 38th birthday and he made a toast at his birthday dinner, saying that almost everyone at the table he had only known for 2-3 years.
Over the past year, he's told me stories about his wealth and I've asked multiple times "So how many people have you met in your 15-year career in real estate that you feel you can trust?"
He can only count on one hand.
He has always been a very humble and generous guy because of his upbringing, and he's told me about the hundreds of thousands that he's lent out to people over the years and especially during the 2008 downturn.
When he lost 90% of his wealth in the crash, he said he lost 99% of his "friends." There was only 1 guy who helped him back on his feet.
Since then, he's built back some of his wealth, but he's warned me about the same trends that will probably happen soon both for him and myself.
From hearing his stories and reading the stories of the wealthy on Quora, I've concluded for myself that the friends you can trust are the ones who:
Don't see you for your money
They get to know you for you, not what just what you do
They care for your health and your stability
They take time to listen, they take time to care
They take the time to know your dreams, aspirations, preferences
They give you meaningful advice
They are not afraid to confront you for your benefit at the risk of hurting you
They hold you to your best
So in conclusion, I don't think it's about how "hard" it is to trust your friends, but moreso about clearly differentiating between a "friend" and someone who likes your company mostly just because of your money.
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