NEW ECONOMY
The digital gold rush and $10 trillion worth of inheritance being doled out to baby boomers are conspiring to make thousands of formerly modest Americans stinking rich. Some of them, apparently, just can't deal. "Unlike the old rich, most of those now coming into money don't come from money," says Stephen Goldbart, a San Francisco-area clinical psychologist. "The new rich find having money to be a mixed blessing."
Goldbart contends that the suddenly wealthy, not the envious have-nots, are at risk these days. Tech professionals, who often don't have much of a life beyond their careers, can lose their sense of self when they no longer have to work. Others may become codependent on the Nasdaq, suffering from what Goldbart terms "ticker shock" when the index drops.
Goldbart (along with psychotherapist Joan DiFuria) has cofounded the Money, Meaning & Choices Institute in Kentfield, California, a center for those seeking shelter from what might be called "sudden-wealth syndrome."
Since when did the American Dream become such a nightmare?
When the dream started coming from the stock market. The biggest difference between generations is that the American Dream used to be about working hard and building up one's financial security incrementally and providing for your family. There was a lot of honor associated with that. In the last three or four years, there's a new dream - of instant wealth like you see in Silicon Valley.
Is sudden wealth like overnight fame?
Yes. There are similarities. You get caught up in a whirlwind of activity. Then, later, the rest of you is remembered. And this is when people seek us out, when the party's over.
It's difficult to feel sympathy for a 25-year-old millionaire.
It's hard to talk about money when no one wants to hear it. People talk about what happened in the market today, but not how much you have, what you hope to save. Even couples are much more comfortable talking about sex than they are talking about their money. Money is the last taboo.
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