Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge S& S Story (Sad and stupid)

So, just an interesting true story to ponder over...A close friend of my Aunt and Uncle's, who we'll call "John", inherited around $40 thou from his dad's estate. He spent that in about 6 months. Then, after the entire estate was settled, he wound up with a big farm with farmhouse in a county nearby. The ground and house had been rented for years, and payed an annual income of $80 thou a year, but John wanted lots of money right away and sold the entire operation for $750 thou cash. That's 3/4 of a million dollars! In the next three years he bought lots of stuff and had a good time. Bought a nice, slightly used Honda three wheeler, but it broke a part. He took it apart to fix it (he is a fairly good mechanic), lost interest, and pushed it to one side. Then he bought another. Bought a couple of decent used houses, some interesting cars for his worthless son, gambled at a local Casino, rented some women, etc. Flash forward three years and, yes, you guessed it, he is FLAT BROKE! Think about it for a minute. He started with a guanteed income of $80 THOUSAND DOLLARS A YEAR! Now, he has had his utilities turned off and is doing odd jobs around town for money. I occasionaly see him around town and he always comes over to talk to me, but he is so stoopid that I try and stay away from conversation, mostly his conversations are mostly one sided stories he wants to tell. I guess it is none of my business, but just thinking about this idiot's actions really makes me angry. I guess it is because I've tried so hard to eke out a living for so many years and here is this idiot carelessly wrecking his big chance to really have a good life.

Makes me think people usually get what they REALLY want. He wanted a flash in the pan. You see it a lot with lottery winners. Broke again after a couple of years. Maybe because they never really wanted a stable income - if they did they would have had it already.

I have a friend that did a similar thing....TWICE! He got hurt 2 different times due to the negligence of someone else and both times got a multimillion dollar settlement. Both times he blew through it in a few years and is now back where he started except he is on disability instead of back to work. He really is disabled from the accidents not lazy.

Money is a strange thing. Some people use it as a tool, others use it as a drug. It lasts accordingly.

I think people who have it need to plan better on how to distribute it - for the sake of their heirs.

Well, that beats MY story, Ian. TWICE! I think the part that really gets me is that he could have lived very comfortably on the 80k he could have kept getting from rent. That was triple anything he ever made from working and a heck of a lot of money here in the Midwest. But the greed got to him. I'm familiar with the psychological insight that says that people who sometimes get large amounts of money, especially from an inheritance, often feel sub-consciously "guilty" or "unworthy" of receiving the money and so try to spend it away so as not to be burdened with it. Still, most of the time I think it's just plain stupidity.

Same thing here, my friend could have lived comfortably for the rest of his life on the first settlement let alone 2 if he had been smart. But like Steve said he got money drunk and just went on spending sprees. Both settlements were several million dollars. Cars, motorcycles, houses, and lavish parties. Once the money was gone he sold things off to live and ended up with nothing.

I know of a similar story. As fella got several hundred thousand dollars in an accident settlement and blew it all on riding around in limos and partying. Didn't buy a home or a car or anything to better his station in life. Just parties it away. Last time I saw the guy I ended up punching his lights out for his stupidity. His big mouth that is. He told me he is retiring when he gets his disability (for being too fat to work) and his food stamps, and housing check.

Like you guys I have worked and tried to invest the best I could to squeak by and too watch some people blow such good opportunities really aggravates me.

Grasshopper and the ant, same old story.

Guy I went to high school with inherited several million soon after graduation. Never had to do too much, so he didn't. He also didn't have to foresight to stash a chunk of the cash for the long run. After 35 or so years of smoking dope, renting strippers and crappy investments, he hit the bottom of the pot-o-gold. Last time I saw him he was working for a local pizzeria. Nice guy, just not properly equipped to deal with a windfall like that.

At least he made it last 35 years, the guy I knew blew through his in about 3 or 4 years each.

A woman that works for the Recreation Association my wife runs won 48 million a few weeks ago. Within one week she had gone to claim her prize because someone told her she was loosing $22000 a day in interest. (really....who cares) I hope Tina wakes up before the vultures take it away from her cause she has never had any $$ and the first bit of advice was not the smartest route to start with.

Oh and by the way here in Canada that is the full $48 Million tax free.

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At least he made it last 35 years, the guy I knew blew through his in about 3 or 4 years each.

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Yeah I know, but now the dude's 56 or 57 without a pot to pi$$ in, no marketable skills and not a great deal of hope for the remaining 15 or twenty years of his life. He'd been better off smoking it all up in 3 or 4 years and then being forced into the job market like the rest of us schmucks at a much younger age. Gonna be tough going finding something reasonably lucrative at that age with not much to offer to a potential employer.

20 plus years ago my in laws, who were always on the hand out program, hit a big win in the California state lottery.
It started out nicely, first they invited all of their relative together (we thought there was going to be a party) to announce that they would not be repaying any of the many personal loans family members had made to them and that they were moving away. I was not too surprised as I had never expected to get my money back and was happy to see them go.
They (of course took the cash pay out) managed to blow thru the money in record time. Rather than pay off any existing debts they dug deeper. They bought a house in LA, put money down on it, never made a single payment. Bought a 1 ton diesel tank, paid cash for all but $6000 of and financed that, never made a payment. They went thru it all in less than a year and had everything repossessed.
a good chunk of the winning was spent on more lottery tickets as they were sure to win again.
After all that they came back with hands out to relatives again. All with the story of how they were victims.
California is still supporting them.

People who come into a lot of money who didn't earn it through sweat and hard work seem to all have a similar story. I don't have much and will probably have to work till the day I die but the good Lord knows I am not too savvy with money so he doesn't give me more than I really need. I have a decent house and property and enough to eat and enough to spend on fairly inexpensive hobbies and enough to feed my dogs and cats. He knows any more than that I would be be the fool... a fool and his money are soon parted! bwhahahaha I count myself lucky to have a gorgeous wife, a motorcycle that actually runs and can get fat if I choose to (ok, I do work at it). What more does a man need?

If one of you southerners happen to stray across the border and by some stroke of luck win one of our tax free lotteries you know you can count on the Canadian contingent to give you safe haven from those dreaded "Revenuers".

Heck win one the big ones and guarantee to keep it here and we'll make you an honourary Canuck.

some people are too stupid to get money..........

I am a credit manager, my wife will tell you "never marry a credit manager" she claims that if we were to come into any serious money (lotto etc) that it would be a waste of time, that i would not likley want to spend it anyways! kind of sad really, but true.

I think many of us have a similar story. Buddy of mine inherited a boat load of money. Made a bunch of big investments trying to make more money and got bite by the downturn and lost it all. This got me to thinking "what if". My personal strategy would be to put the entire bundle in a moderately conservative mutual fund (or something similar). The only thing I would use is the interest (and then only half). The other half I would re-invest back into the mutual fund.

What would yall do?

ahh your just a tightwad Mike , of Scottish decent .

Prefund my grand children's education. Create trust funds that give everybody a monthly stipend (small enough that they still have to work). A Mutual Fund for a nest egg. Then I'd spend the rest of my life as a mysterious philanthropist to individuals and small organizations. That would be my happiness.

Me too but to add one more thing, I would have a bigazz motor home and I would travel

We read all the time how Joe Blow hits the Mega Pot, blows through it and is homeless, in prison, dead, etc in 6 months.
I can assure you if I am ever fortunate enough to hit a big payout I will not blow through it.

I was born without a pot to piss in and grew up as a kid the same way. Started work at the age of 12.Twenty hours a week. It was a different era no doubt.
I've slowly over my lifetime managed to squirrel away a descent egg and improve my lifestyle as well as my kids lifestyle. I truly understand what hard work is and how tuff things are to acquire when you start with nothing. That's why when you see me my stuff is in tip top shape and shiny

It would be nice to actually be afforded the opportunity to just relax a bit and not have to bust your ass everyday, that don't mean I need a Bentley and a 12 column mansion, just pay off my mortgage and I'll be a happy man.

I'm a grasshopper, I'd buy us all matching red Corvettes. You can live in a car, can't drive a house.

Newt... as it happens I have a bigazz motor home for sale :-D

I'd spend most on booze and women, the rest I'd just waste

Buy me some acreage way back in the woods, build my Hobbit hole house have no debt and live completely autonomous.

Travel, buy a Sprinter camper with a trailer to haul Crantini and other toys and get on the road. Park it somewhere and fly off to Australia and NZ or Europe return pick up the N. American journey and try to get a ride in as many places as possible. (what is your favourite ride, lets go do it)

There is plenty of time to settle in, there just isn't enough time to see the world. (and I guess that leads us back to the money)

I would invest most of it and turn it into more money and live like I do now for the most part.

I'd fund this site for a decade along with all the other charities I support.