By Brittanie Morris
Scott C. Marsh gave the audience a specific list of financial do”s and don”ts in his class “The Science of Personal Prosperity – The Financial Essentials of Behavioral Intelligence, Financial Intelligence and Spiritual Intelligence.”
Marsh answered the common question “Why are ”Mormons” more susceptible to fraud?” with this statement: “Mormons are more susceptible to fraud because they are myopically independent.”
Marsh said according to the National Association of Securities Dealers and the American Association of Retired Persons, those who are most susceptible to investment fraud are those with above average financial intelligence. These people, consequently, often fail to take counsel from others.
Therefore, Marsh said, it is important for people to have collective intelligence investment strategies where they converse with a mentor, adviser or touchstone.
Marsh said behavioral intelligence and financial intelligence come together in “collective intelligence,” which is reliant on one”s ability to listen to others.
He showed listeners that buying a home one cannot afford, investing in general life insurance, taking out debt consolidation loans, getting involved in “nothing-down” investment real estate and time-share real estate, and involving one”s self in franchise or multi-level private-owned business ventures is a bad idea.
Marsh said part of the problem within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with investment fraud is due to people”s extreme independence and even sometimes their refusal to investigate these ventures.
Marsh told listeners to “look for a second witness.”
“Talk to someone in an area of expertise. Start listening to someone you can trust,” he said. “Listen to those closest to you.”
Marsh closed his class with a lesson on prosperity rooted in the Book of Mormon and found in Alma 32.
He said faith, in this chapter, is compared to prosperity.
“Prosperity begins from a small seed,” he said. “It cannot come from someone simply walking up to your door and handing you a check.”
Interestingly enough, Marsh said, within five years, 85 percent of all lottery recipients report their quality of life went down after receiving their money, and 50 percent experienced divorce within three years of their receiving the money.
Marsh ended by challenging participants to read Alma 32-35 with the same intensity they”d read an expensive book about how to gain prosperity and told them to be open to the steps it takes to get there.
