Admire without acquire

Religion Today once published a story title "A man who convinced 2,100 Christians to invest." Investors should always be wary of any scheme that guarantees an above-market return, particularly if it involves unlisted securities or unsecured personal notes, regardless of the good-old-boy charm of the promoter. When it looks too good to be true, it generally is!
SwissCash, which advertises itself as a mutual fund company, once asked US$10,000 to US$100,000 per investor and promises returns of 25 per cent on investment.
Pacific Wealth in Murrieta had no assets of its own and was essentially a "ponzi scheme" that could be kept afloat only as long as more new investors were persuaded to come aboard. They promised rates of return ranged from about 20 percent to 300 percent. One attorney says as many as 400 people from across Arizona were victimized, along with hundreds more in California, Arkansas, Puerto Rico, Texas, Oregon and Washington. See full story at http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/allheadlines/173005
Often, religion is used to push investment in these deals. Scam artists know the vocabulary to use with Christian people, some investors, including a pastor, said they bought in these investments to raise money for church projects to aid the poor.
Wanting things, whether we get them or not, is something with which we are all extremely familiar. To deal with this problem and root out the covetousness in our hearts, we have to learn to admire without acquire. We have to learn how to say, “I appreciate that. That is great. Good for you.” Without taking it any further.