Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

This story appears in the November 2000 issue of Entrepreneur. Subscribe »

When you were little, it was all about having the best bike and toys around. You fantasized about being waited on in a Richie Rich mansion. But now that you're older, wiser and on your way down the entrepreneurial road, does that quest for wealth still occupy you?

Not necessarily. A recent survey commissioned by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) shows one-third of respondents aged 18 and over said they didn't want to be wealthy. While that's still a minority (as two-thirds were willing to give wealth a try), 80 percent feared wealth would change them for the worse.

The mystique of riches appears to be waning, says Melinda Blackman, assistant professor of industrial organizational psychology at California State University, Fullerton. Blackman holds the media partly responsible. "With the prevalence of millionaires, the media is showing the downfall of these individuals and making it very public," she says. "People realize wealth is not a panacea."

Focusing on traditional values-family, friends, volunteer work-still seems to outweigh wealth in terms of motivation.