There’s a wise old saying that says, “You can’t take it with you when you go.” What that means is that all of the wealth and material possessions we amass here on earth will stay here when we’re gone. Certainly, a check or money order and maybe some jewelry will fit in the casket with us, but that’s about it. The wise thing to do is to enjoy your life (and your money!) while you’re here. However, the real wisdom of that quote is that you should spend your life building love and giving back. Those are the things that will last for all time. Anytime you invest in other people, you’re investing in the world and the universe and your legacy will outlive you. It’s good life advice to follow. But taking your wealth with you when you go? Even the pharaohs’ gold was all still in their tombs when they got dug up centuries later. The man in the joke below could have used this advice.
There was a man who had worked all of his life and has saved all of his money.
He was a real cheapskate when it came to his money. He loved money more than just about anything, and just before he died, he said to his wife:
“Now listen, when I die I want you to take all my money and place it in the casket with me. Because I want to take all my money to the afterlife.”
So he got his wife to promise him with all her heart that when he died she would put all the money in the casket with him. When one day he died.
He was stretched out in the casket, the wife was sitting there in black next to their best friend. When they finished the ceremony, just before the undertakers got ready to close the casket, the wife said, “Wait a minute!”
She had a shoebox with her, she came over with the box and placed it in the casket. Then the undertakers locked the casket and rolled it away.
Her friend said, “I hope you weren’t crazy enough to put all that money in there with that stingy old man.”
She said, “Yes, I promised. I’m a good Christian, I can’t lie. I promised him that I was to put that money in that casket with him.”
“You mean to tell me you put every cent of his money in the casket with him?”
“I sure did,” said the wife. “I got it all together, put it into my account and I wrote him a check.”
