|
I
recently watched the film Going for Broke, which
is about a woman’s downward spiral from being a topnotch
head of fundraising for a large foundation in Reno,
Nevada, to a convicted felon because of her overwhelming
addiction to gambling.
Her
stumble started with an innocent dropping of a few coins
into a video poker machine and surprisingly winning a
$100 jackpot while visiting a local casino. The sudden
“high” she got from winning that jackpot and the idea of
a quick buck motivated her to come back a few days later
and give it another shot.
Soon
after, she was regularly going to the casinos, missing
appointments, and neglecting her duties and
responsibilities because she was out gambling for hours;
sometimes well past midnight.
Unpaid
bills started piling up and money was becoming scarce.
She began borrowing heavily from family and friends and
sold some of the family’s appliances and furniture in
pursuit of her obsessive dream of that “one big win.”
She was
hooked; she quivers when she’s not out gambling;
anywhere she goes and anything she does, the casino and
that one big elusive win are always in her mind.
In a
real act of desperation she even tried to steal money (a
few dollars) from her sleeping teenage daughter so she
can go out late at night to gamble. With nowhere else to
go she turned to the foundation’s funds; forging the
chairman’s signature to draw money and gamble. She was
definitely out of control and she ended up in prison for
embezzling more than $100,000 of the foundation’s money.
She also lost her husband and her kids. Such is the fate
of anyone who allows herself to be driven into the
compulsive world of habitual gambling.
Although
this story, based on real events, happened in the US,
similar struggles with gambling and its devastating
effects are being waged every day right here in our own
backyard. You probably know a few relatives and friends
who are hooked and had their world crumbling down, too.
Uncontrolled, habitual gambling is one sure way for you
to be buried in a muck of debt; so do everything in your
power to stop if you are into it right now.
If you
are not, don’t start, even if it is just for fun because
you may not be strong enough to resist the temptation of
playing again and again and again until it becomes a
compulsion; unable to stop until you lose everything.
I first
came face to face with a casino’s slot machine three
weeks ago when a friend gave me about a thousand pesos
worth of coins to play with. And boy it was really
exciting to win some turns even
if it was just less than a hundred pesos!
After
pushing buttons for about an hour (winning some, losing
a lot) all the coins given me were safely tucked in the
slot machine’s belly; and my friend, who was a regular
at the casino, lost about P15,000.
Late
that night I dreamt of winning the P5-million jackpot
and another P800,000 at the casino. (It just goes to
show that the desire for instant riches is in all of
us.) Fortunately, the money I gambled wasn’t mine, so
it was easier for me to lose it and I won’t be compelled
to get even with the machine.
But for
the thousands of others who are hooked, they will come
back and will bet everything they have, even their
souls, for that “one big win!”
(Incidentally, the missus also had her first bout with
the slot machine about a week after mine. She had the
exact same feeling of exhilaration whenever she won and
she also lost a thousand that night. The next morning
she talked about her experience and jokingly hinted she
wanted to go back and play. She quickly erased the
thought off her mind when I threatened her with a
separation!)
I still
have to meet a person who became rich and stayed rich
for the rest of his life because of gambling (unless,
perhaps if you own the gambling joint).
But I
know a good number of people who started well off but
are now living in pitiful conditions because they
allowed themselves to be sucked into the unforgiving
world of gambling. Sure you may win a big one a few
times (another friend won P1.2 million in an illegal
numbers game many years ago) but I bet you my 15-foot
pet python you have definitely gambled much, much more
or lose your winnings in a jiffy.
If
compulsive gamblers have a hard time stopping when
they’re losing, you can’t expect them to stop if they’re
on top of the world. They will just gamble away all
their winnings and then some; the word “enough” is
missing in their vocabulary.
One
reason why gamblers keep on doing what they do is
because they don’t realize how much exactly they’ve
already lost. Every time they get that rare win, the
string of dozens or hundreds of losses that preceded it
are instantly forgotten; and since they’ve acquired a
new cache of ammunition to bet, they press on.
Here’s a
friendly advice to gamblers: Since you can’t manage or
control what you do not measure, keep a written record
of all your bets and winnings, including the dates they
were made then periodically (monthly, quarterly and
annually) add up the figures. Hopefully, after seeing
the exact amount of your net loss you will be shocked
enough to stop gambling your life away!
There
are other less obvious forms of “gambling” besides the
casinos, cockfighting, horseracing and lotteries that
can eat up a big chunk of your finances and plunge you
into a debt hole.
Investing in something that you do not understand and
are not equipped to manage is “gambling!” Take for
example the stock market. You shell out (or borrow)
hundreds of thousands of pesos to buy into a stock
because the friend of the in-law of the cousin of your
doctor’s neighbor’s poodle has an inside tip that it
will double in the next few days.
A week
later you had the dog shot for the false information and
after losing more than half your money.
When
investing in a volatile market like the stock exchange,
be sure you are fully aware of the risks involved and
have sufficient knowledge about the company and the
industry of the stock you are holding or buying into.
You have to trade wisely and have a strategy on when to
buy or sell or just stay at the sidelines and watch
things unfold. Doing otherwise is gambling and you will
likely lose.
Beware
also of “investments” that promise you outrageously huge
interests or profits. Many fall prey to these scams and
gamble their money away because of our “natural” burning
desire to get rich quickly. A few families I know are
now millions into debt and facing several legal actions
because of these scams; worse, close ties with some
relatives and friends have been totally shredded.
Before
you put money into any investment gather as much
information as you can about the company, the people
behind it and their business operation. Ask real
authorities or experts, not your friend’s parrot, if
such an investment can be real and can “guarantee” such
enormous returns.
Do not
throw your money to the wind and pray that it will
return with some interest. You could very well end up
holding an empty bag long after the wind has died down.
Alvin T. Tabańag is a registered financial planner and a
member of the RFP Institute and the Financial Planning
Association (USA). He is the founder and training
director of Advantage Plus Consultancy & Training, which
is dedicated to promoting a culture of savings among
Filipinos through financial education. Comments &
questions about the article and other queries may be
e-mailed to alvintabz@yahoo.com.
Join the Seventh RFP Program (July 7 to August 25,
2007). Visit www.rfp-philippines.com or inquire at info@rfp-philippines.com
/Tel. No. 6342204. |
