Most people are good at telling other people what to do with their cash.   I have a few family members who are disgustingly good at it.  As you can imagine, it causes it’s fair share of drama and nonsense.

A few years ago I made a startling revelation.  I was tired of getting badgered about my money so I turned the conversation towards Shaquille O’neal. This was back in 2001.  At the time Shaq was raking in more than 10 million smackers a year.  Of those 10 million, he was reportedly giving his mother about $300k.

I thought Shaq was being generous.  My family did not.  I thought my ears were betraying me.  $300k for a woman who’d maybe made $40k a year prior to Shaq’s stardom seemed like a sweet deal to me.

Just for giggles I decided to tell them about Warren Buffet’s strategy.  The 3rd richest man on the planet pays for his family members to go to college.  The gravy train stops there.  What followed was a concert of curse words and screaming.  Needless to say, they felt Mr. Buffett was being a little selfish.  Again, I thought he was generous.  Again, my family did not.

So what do you think?

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