Did you watch that show “Secret Millionaire” last night? The millionaires had great intent but all I could keep thinking throughout the show was the effect of unintended consequences.

The shows premise is millionaires leave their millionaire lives behind and live amongst common poor people and try to find people worthy of their money.  The first show featured three people:  Ms. Rodriguez, a once homeless construction worker; An older lady taking care of many kids and Emily, a sick girl with cancer.

I don’t know any of the poor people’s details but hypothetically, I can imagine that Emily’s family which received 50k would some how no longer qualify for Medicare or Medicaid.

I would imagine that the mom that took care of those kids would be forced into a higher tax bracket and might have her social security income displaced with a 50k income variance for the year.

And the construction worker woman would still be digging out of her medical bills and possibly have a lien placed on her property or have her check garnished.

Again, I don’t know the personal details of the people and I know the millionaires are well intentioned but things don’t ever work out that way for some reason. It’s similar to how those needy families who have a new home (re)built end up owing taxes or losing the home on Extreme makeover.

Personally, I continuously wrestle with what is the right formula for helping people because simply writing a check and walking away doesn’t ever seem to accomplish much.