Episode 110 - Does our relationship with money reveals who we truly are?

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The invisible grip money holds over our lives reveals itself in startling ways, transforming even the most principled individuals when financial matters arise. This episode of The Trust Factor examines wealth as one of life's greatest tests—a challenge that exposes our deepest values and trust.

Why do good people make poor financial decisions? The answer lies in understanding money as more than currency—it's an emotional attachment that society has elevated to near-religious status. We explore how the relentless messaging that "only when you achieve X level of success will you be happy" creates an insatiable hunger that doesn't end at millionaire or even billionaire status. This perpetual dissatisfaction reveals the Torah wisdom: "When you pass, you've achieved only half of what you set out to achieve."

The episode identifies three critical wealth mistakes that trip us up. First, obtaining money through disgraceful means—especially tempting during financial pressure. For business owners riding the "roller coaster" of fluctuating income, this test reveals whether one truly trusts their creator to provide legitimately. Second, adopting the mindset that "what I make is mine" creates an unhealthy attachment where anyone asking for financial help becomes "public enemy number one."

Most importantly, we learn about the three-part division of income according to ancient wisdom: sustenance for oneself, provision for dependents, and capital held temporarily as a trust. This framework transforms our relationship with wealth from possession to stewardship. The guidance offers a pathway beyond materialism toward financial balance that honors our responsibilities to ourselves and others.

Ready to transform your relationship with money? Subscribe to The Trust Factor for daily wisdom that guarantees a better, healthier, happier existence—if you take note and take action.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 0 (00:00):
Good morning, my dear friends, welcome to the Trust
Factor.
We are continuing to sharepriceless nuggets of wisdom,
information that, if you applyin your life, will guarantee
that you live a better,healthier, happier existence in
this life.
So please take note and, moreimportantly, take action.

(00:21):
We're talking about whatsomebody does, how we succeed
and how we fail when it comes tothe test of wealth.
Wealth is a very big test.
We said yesterday it's one ofthe top two evil inclinations.
Money makes people do really,really silly things.
My friends, I know, you knowthis, I know this, I've

(00:44):
experienced it many, many timeswith all kinds of people.
It does not reflect on thequality of the individual.
I will show you wonderful,well-intended people who have a
big evil inclination for moneyand when it comes to every other
subject matter on the planet,they are spectacular and they

(01:06):
conduct themselves in a fashionthat you admire and look up to
and you think, wow, this personis so well put together.
Yet the situation comes upwhere money is involved they
either owe you, or you owe them,or they have to put their hand
in their pocket, or they expectyou to do the same thing them.
Or they have to put their handin their pocket, or they expect

(01:26):
you to do the same thing, andsuddenly it's dr jekyll and mr
hyde.
You're dealing with acompletely different individual,
an individual who cannotcontrol their actions and their
thoughts when it comes to money.
I've seen this, I know you havetoo.
These are good, good people.
They could be family members,they could be really, really
close friends, and you can'tblame them for it.

(01:48):
I'm telling you this because Idon't want you to hold them in
contempt.
It is the number one evilinclination, my friends the
desire to have money, as much ofit as you could possibly have.
Whatever the reason may be, itcould be out of a fear of not
having enough money.
It could be because they've gotso much more expenses than you

(02:11):
do that they feel this desire tohang on to it even harder than
you do.
It may be because they have anemotional attachment to it from
childhood.
There could be many reasons whysomebody feels this way about
money, not the least of which isthe fact that society tells
them that it is the holy grailthat only when you get the money

(02:36):
, only when you reach, when youachieve x level of success,
that's when you'll be happy,that's when you'll be really
fulfilled when you have reachedthe status of millionaire.
And then the millionaires aretold when you reach the status
of a billionaire, and it doesn'tend.
It doesn't end, my friends.
You have a hundred, you want200.

(02:56):
It says yes, it's in the torah,somebody.
It says also that when you pass, you've passed achieving only
half of what you set out toachieve.
Why?
Because you're never happy withwhat you have.
You're constantly looking formore and more and more.
Well, into your late ages, myfriends, it doesn't end.
Look at the desire for power andcontrol.

(03:18):
Look at somebody like a DonaldTrump.
Again, forget politics.
But generally speaking, hereyou have a billionaire who does
not have to do what he's doing,but the man is clearly thriving
in an environment where he isthe big chief, where he's the
big boss, where people takepoint from him, love him or hate
him.

(03:38):
Again, forget policy.
I'm just saying in general.
Anybody who sees knows thatthis is a person who thrives on
power.
He doesn't have to be doingwhat he's doing.
He's well positioned to have anisland, a private island, and
live out his days with hisfamily and his loved ones.
Not to say that that's a greatidea, but he could do that.
But no, instead he goes for thehighest order, he goes for the

(04:01):
position with the most stress onplanet earth.
You understand, the desirenever wanes, my friend.
So let's move into this, let'sread from the book and
understand what he tells us thatthere are mistakes that can be
made, that we as humans arefallible.
We're going to make mistakesand he's going to lay out three
different mistakes that we make,specifically when it comes to

(04:25):
the idea of wealth.
And he says the first way isthat we obtain whatever money
the Creator has ordained for us,that we will obtain in any case
, no more and no less, we saidyesterday.
But he does so in disgracefuland wicked ways.
What does that mean?
That means he does it in anillegal fashion or an immoral

(04:45):
fashion.
Okay, just because thegovernment says something is
illegal.
You know, sometimes there's abig question mark over there.
We see that even they flip-flopon policy.
One day something's illegal,the next day it's perfectly
normal and acceptable.
Right problem is they've made ataboo for generations and today
nobody wants to incorporate itinto their lives because they
were brainwashed to think it wasillegal for a hundred years.

(05:07):
Today, governments aside, it'snot.
It's not illegal anymore andeverybody has a hard time with
it.
Point being that if it's alegitimate business, if it is
above board, that's one thing.
But here he's saying, in ourdesire for money, in our need
for money I don't want tominimize it money is important
and the more we rely on people,the more, or sorry, the more

(05:29):
people rely on us, the moremoney we need to sustain not
just ourselves but them as well.
And if you run a business, youknow exactly what I'm talking
about.
If you're an employee, okay,you've got a set pay structure.
You understand and you can livewithin a budget.
You know what's coming in, youknow generally what's going out.
Sometimes it's a strugglebecause you need to remain

(05:49):
within that budget and sometimesyou have unexpected surprises.
You need to have contingenciesin place to be able to deal with
those surprises that come outof the blue.
But if you're a business owner,every day is that day.
Every single day, you ride theroller coaster of business,
where you're up and down, yourcash flows up, your cash flows

(06:09):
down, your receivables are high,your receivables are low,
non-stop.
My friends, it is literally thelife of a small business, or
even a large business owner.
It is a roller coaster.
And so when we get to the lows,when we're suffering and we're
struggling, and yet we stillhave those very same expenses
they didn't go anywhere.
In fact, they probably evenwent up the pressure on us

(06:31):
becomes enormous.
And now we have the potentialto resort to illegal or
illegitimate means of acquiringadditional money, because we
need it.
At the end of the day, we needto be able to support ourselves,
feed ourselves and our familiesright?
So that's the challenge.
Mistake number one is are yougoing to recognize that you

(06:52):
don't need to resort to thosemethods of attaining wealth
because you can rely on yourcreator or not?
I could tell you that, even ifyou're growing, even if you're
on the right path, my friends,and you're making the right
decisions, you will be tested,guaranteed.
No matter what you do for aliving, you will be tested.
You have an opportunity tocheat, you have an opportunity

(07:14):
to steal and you will bechallenged with that test.
Whether you pass or fail, myfriends, depends entirely on
your level of trust in yourcreator.
Not an easy thing to do, veryeasy to say, but not an easy
thing to do.
The second way that a foolishperson who makes a great deal of
money errs is that he thinksthat all the money he earns is

(07:36):
income for his food.
In other words, it's not foranybody else.
What I make is mine.
Now, you might think this is acorrupt way of thinking and it
is.
But you may also think therearen't a lot of people out there
like that, and there are.
There are many people I knowthem personally who believe that
what they make belongs to them.
They are the exclusive peoplewho are entitled to what they

(08:00):
earn.
Nobody else has any entitlementto the money that they earn.
In fact, even their familiesaren't entitled to it.
There is a sense of ownershipover the money that they make
and they are not willing to partwith it.
And if you come to ask for it,you become the villain, you
become the enemy.

(08:20):
Just by sheer mention that youwould like them to invest in you
or donate to a cause for you,or whatever it is you want to
dip into their pocket, you nowbecome public enemy number one.
I know people like this.
Unfortunately, it is not ahealthy way.
It is a corrupt mindset.

(08:41):
My friends, you have money thatcomes to you, but you have to
do things for others with thatmoney.
It is not all given just foryour sake.
Yeah, let's move forward.
He says that a person like thisdoesn't realize that his income
should be divided into threeparts.
The first part is for him Okay,I need to eat, I have expenses,

(09:01):
I have families.
I need to be able to take careof myself and my immediate needs
.
Okay, basic sustenance, food,shelter, clothing, right, the
things that I need to be able toget through this life.
And, by the way, my friends,that's not a lot.
Historically, it did not take alot to be able to exist and to
live and to have a happy life.
Today, society has taught usthat just your basic necessities

(09:26):
means you need to be amillionaire because you need to
keep up with the Joneses.
If you're not keeping up withthe Joneses, then you're not
living a good life.
That's what they'll tell you.
You understand it's a verycorrupt thought process, but
that's what we've been trainedto think from a very, very young
age.
Hollywood, media, celebrities,politicians just look at what's
on television.

(09:46):
Who sets the trend?
Who tells you what's hot andwhat's not?
It's all Hollywood andcelebrities, people who are so
far removed from reality that98% of their existence has no
connection back to the averageperson's life, and yet they're
the one dictating policy.
They're the ones dictatingwhat's hot and what's not.
And because of that, my friends, today we believe if we're not

(10:08):
millionaires and billionaires,we're simply not happy.
So we hang on to everythingthat we get.
Know that your income is cut upinto three parts.
Number one your basicsustenance for yourself.
The second is the income andfood for others, the people who
depend on you, whether it's yourwife, your children, your
servants, your employees and soforth.

(10:29):
Such income, he says, is notguaranteed by God to all human
beings, but only to theprivileged among them, and only
under specific conditions.
Not every person is guaranteedto be able to earn enough to
support others who depend onthem, even for those who are
granted the means to do so.
This is something that mayhappen at one time or another in

(10:49):
a person's life, as dictated byGod, based on kindness and
justice, combination of the twoand the third type, and we'll
finish with this for today, justas an introduction.
The third type of revenue aperson receives from God is
income held as capital, in theform of money or assets, and he
says this is the property thatis of no benefit to that person
who possesses it.

(11:09):
He will not end up needing itfor his own sustenance, nor to
support others.
He merely guards it andprotects it as a watchman until
he either bequeaths it tosomebody else when he dies or
loses it in some way.
You understand, those are thethree forms of income, of
revenue that you receive Incometo sustain yourself, income to

(11:30):
sustain others and excess income.
Tomorrow, we're going toexplain Chavot HaLevavot is
going to explain how the foolishperson errs when it comes to
these three forms of revenue.
That wraps it up for today, myfriends.
I hope you have a wonderful day.
We'll chat tomorrow.