I am constantly reminded of the reasons why so many people have such difficulty creating wealth. While I was sitting down to write this article one of my favorite Elvis Presley songs came onto the radio - "In the Ghetto." So, I paused to listen to the words. Pretty much the song, beautifully written by Mac Davis, foretells of the generational hopelessness of a certain type of people.

In many respects this song is in accord with what I was thinking about and writing at the time - a state of mind reflected in a way of life. So, I have included a few references to it here, including the title.

What they say and do is just a manifestation of what is going on in their minds.

I hear things like: "I'm gonna shop till I drop" and "I need retail therapy"

How can anybody get wealthy thinking and saying thoughts like these?

I also regularly hear young people brag about how drunk they need to get to "have a good time." Really? What part about paying a fortune for alcohol that destroys your liver, turns you into a boof-head and gives you a massive headache the next day constitutes having a "good time?" I don't get it.

And then there are those very misguided people who feel the need to sniff, snort, swallow and inject all sorts of toxic chemicals. That is such destructive behavior. How can anybody get wealthy doing that? Well, correction, the drug dealer gets wealthy. But why don't they themselves take their own cocktails of poison?

People ingesting and injecting themselves with stupid drugs and copious amounts of alcohol are setting themselves up for a life of poverty, terrible health and misery. Unfortunately, they just don't see it - until it is too late. Then they are so hopelessly addicted that they cannot change.

On another level, so many people spend every cent they get and more on useless consumer rubbish that does nothing but plunge them deeper and deeper into massive debt.

If you drive through some of the poorest socio-economic neighborhoods in any affluent western city invariably you will find, parked in the driveways, some of the most expensive sports cars and high performance vehicles in that city. What does that tend to indicate to you? It tells me that the people who live in these locations have got their priorities all wrong.

Paying off an expensive motor vehicle that depreciates in value like a lead weight from the moment that a person takes possession of it until the time that it is eventually sold or repossessed is a sure-fire way to climb aboard the express debt train to poverty.

Needless consumer goods, booze, drugs, excessive cell phone use and flash motor vehicles will drain your ability to create wealth faster than anything else. People who get sucked into these fallacies are actually playing the flip side to some smart operator's wealth creation process.

So, if you don't want to live in debt and poverty for the rest of your life then you need to start learning about the rules of wealth.

As Elvis sang...

"...people don't you understand,
the child needs a helping hand..."

We all need a helping hand at some stage in our lives. The smart ones realize this quickly and look for help before it is too late. Then they take action so they won't have to live in a ghetto or associate with the losers in life. Get your financial education and you will be able to live wherever you want.