Life Improvement Classes…to whose benefit is it anyway?
Classes on investments or classes to improve your life for that matter are an interesting place to observe and meet people. Depending on the class, they are filled with a broad mix of people, from all walks of life with the common goal of bettering their financial picture or fixing a problem area in their lives. They vary in skill and age and personalities and most importantly their overall goals in terms of net-worth, lifestyle and career.
Like many classes these groups of people can be broken down into further sub-groups:
You start off with the clueless. These people are desperate, in need of immediate financial repair and will listen to anyone or anything with a solution. The often want a quick fix and want the quickest and easiest path to riches. Sadly they are uninformed and often end up losing more money because they took the easy way out instead of figuring out what would work for them.
Your next group of people are the dangerous amateurs. They’ve taken a course before, read a book, know some buzz words and are freely willing to dispense “knowledge” and advice about what you should do with your life. Sometimes they share how they are doing with you, but often just keep talking and spitting out information without letting you get a word in edge-wise lest you ask a question and figure out their naivete.
Another group consists of the fairly educated. They take classes to improve their knowledge and are willing to discuss theory with you without dispensing advice. They often have advisors of their own and take their newfound knowledge to that person to ask questions.
There is the know-it all that likes to talk about how great they are doing and yet is unwilling to share their “secrets” so as to avoid competition. They are their for self-gratification and validation. Tell them how smart they are and they will be your friend for life and yet rarely if every will open up and help you.
You also have the Sharks. These are either people planted in the audience to talk about how good the course is and how much it has helped them so you feel compelled to buy and achieve their success or they consist of “professionals” looking for new clients of their own. They claim to be in the class because the topic is of interest to them, bur really they are there to hand out business cards and drum up business.
Finally there is the King or Queen. This the instructor and often self-dubbed guru who is willing to let you into the secret life of the rich. They are there to show you the magic of how to become financially free and just like them. They often accidentally let information slip out about the fabulous vacations they have taken, the expensive cars and homes they have and often have a rags to riches story. They are amazing sales people and know how to take advantage of your fear of being poor and offer the panacea to solve all of your problems whether it be a $10,000 dollar advanced course, $5,000 dollar software tool that enables you to point and click your way to financial freedom with little or no thought or time, or the amazing book they just came out with. The often desperate people in the class fail to see that the guru’s real skill is sales and that their wealth is coming from your purchases and not from their amazing system they are altruistically giving to you.
America is the land of opportunity. The question is, who is being given the opportunity when you attend a class that is supposed to better your life? Who’s life is the class really benefiting?
