Trusting People

Sometimes trusting people is the hardest thing to do especially if we have just met them.

In most cases I trust people very much; however, there are some who do make it very difficult to do so because of circumstances. I would say that the biggest issue trusting people has to do with money. Often people ask others to borrow money when they meet. This is especially true when people meet on line. Many people are scammed and taken advantage of on line. This happens a lot to the elderly; more often than other segments of society. If you have elderly parents it is important that you make sure this does not happen to them. I have heard about elderly people being scammed and losing up into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. They are told about things that most likely bigger than life; these things can help them out where they will live very comfortably the rest of their lives. Instead the elderly will lose all their life savings.

Scams can come to the rest of us as well. We all need to be aware of these scams. A lot of times I get emails where the sender tells me that I have won the lottery, or I am getting an inheritance from a long lost relative. Another one is like I got yesterday where a woman says that her husband died, she has cancer so she has little time left as well. She needs someone to take care of it for her. She has a lot of money where it can be used to help the sick. These emails could be true but most likely not. I know that I would never take the chance this would help me or other people out. Often they want information like  your social security number as well as your address along with other information you should never give out. If I answered every email like this I could be a very rich man but likely I would have no money. The chance is that likely I will have my identity taken.

Where trust hurts the most is with your closest relatives. They may decide ask to borrow money; they may intend to pay you back but likely they will not. I am sure most families have members that live beyond their means. Another part of this is where  a close relative dies, and the person is left behind most likely will remarry. The children often will not get their inheritance from the remaining parent because the inheritance will go to their new spouse and family. It is important the children look out for the surviving parent because likely they wanted it to go to the children in the first place. This doesn’t happen all the time but does happen for frequently than we realize.

It is really sad that trust is hard to deal with for most of us. We have all learned about by prior experience happening to us or a loved one. It is important that we are not taken advantage of; however, we can’t be paranoid either.

I believe in the end it is important that we trust people in general but must keep our eyes open to what may happen. Again anything that seems to be better than life probably is. I think it is important to give some money to good causes as well. My mother is always getting calls about donations but she has learned to keep them to a minimum. There are a lot of good causes but we can’t give to each one.

Often we see people in the streets or on the sidewalk asking for money. When it comes to the poor we need to use wisdom as well. My advice would be to buy people food instead of money. This depends on the situation the person who is asking.

In the end I have to say is give away money that you can afford to give away, and not money you cannot. This advice I would give whether it is the poor or some member of the family. Some people need to learn tough love as well. There are those who continue to be in a place where they always need to borrow money. They need to learn to live within their means. I am sure we all have been in this position at one time or another regardless which side. Sometimes there are circumstances where people do really need the help so help them but remember don’t give away your last dollar most likely you will need it.