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Old 07-29-2019, 06:49 PM
 
Location: Knoxville, TN
5,818 posts, read 2,633,678 times
Reputation: 5705

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Quote:
Originally Posted by MinivanDriver View Post
The brother--a prominent physician--married a total spendthrift who burned every single dime they inherited and every dime he earned. They literally had to file for bankruptcy, despite the fact that this guy made something like half a million a year from his surgery practice. Their massive house was foreclosed on. He tried to hit up his parents for more cash and they absolutely refused because his wife would have absolutely thrown that money away, too.
WHAT?

She must have had him completely p-whipped. A huge inheritance plus a surgeon's income and they went bankrupt?

Someone needs to tell that doctor to find a new wife.

Quote:
Originally Posted by MinivanDriver View Post
Most? That's just fantasy on your part. I mean, heck, if the jackpot is high enough, I'll pony up for a ticket.
Sure, I will too when it's over a billion dollars. But every person I see playing scratch offs looks a little rough around the edges. Then look at the stories of the huge winners who end up broke. I know it's harsh but it's the truth. When you see the conditions these people lived in before hitting the lottery, it's pretty clear.

I'm not saying 100% of people, but yeah, a huge amount of degenerates play the lottery.
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Old 07-29-2019, 07:06 PM
 
4,717 posts, read 3,232,378 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mister 7 View Post
Most lottery players are degenerates, and that’s why they always end up broke and don’t know how to manage money (probably why they play the lottery in the first place).

I know that sounds pretty harsh, but it’s true.
Yes, "degenerate" is very harsh. "Poor and desperate"? Yeah, I'll buy that. I've never bought a lottery ticket in my life and won't no matter how high the jackpot gets. Of course, I was blessed with marketable skills and parents who paid for my college education. Accumulating enough money to live well, even in retirement, looked feasible without playing the lottery. If you're a minimum-wage worker or in another low-paying crap job and see no way up and don't have any rich relatives about to die- well, you buy lottery tickets. The slogans ring in my ears: "Hey, you never know." "All you need is a dollar and a dream".

And if they do win, they have no training or role models who would give them any perspective. It would be like lettings someone who's lived on bread and water their whole lives loose at a Las Vegas buffet. I cringe when I see those HGTV shows with lottery winners buying lavish houses that never cover what the property taxes, maintenance and utilities are going to cost.
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Old 07-29-2019, 07:29 PM
 
Location: Knoxville, TN
5,818 posts, read 2,633,678 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by athena53 View Post
Yes, "degenerate" is very harsh. "Poor and desperate"? Yeah, I'll buy that. I've never bought a lottery ticket in my life and won't no matter how high the jackpot gets. Of course, I was blessed with marketable skills and parents who paid for my college education. Accumulating enough money to live well, even in retirement, looked feasible without playing the lottery. If you're a minimum-wage worker or in another low-paying crap job and see no way up and don't have any rich relatives about to die- well, you buy lottery tickets. The slogans ring in my ears: "Hey, you never know." "All you need is a dollar and a dream".

And if they do win, they have no training or role models who would give them any perspective. It would be like lettings someone who's lived on bread and water their whole lives loose at a Las Vegas buffet. I cringe when I see those HGTV shows with lottery winners buying lavish houses that never cover what the property taxes, maintenance and utilities are going to cost.
I'm not trying to judge people, but, well, it is what it is. Another thing to consider is the massive amount of, um, other people like people the winner knows or is related to that will come out of the woodwork looking for a piece of the prize.

And yes, it seems like they don't see the big picture. First thing I would do is find the best financial advisor in town, pay off my current house, pay cash for a really nice car and boat, and invest the rest and live off the interest. Take insane vacations.

I buy lottery tickets when it's a stupid insane amount (over 1B), but even that's only been one or two times in my life.

I can't watch that show for your reasons either, but I really can't stand the host also.
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Old 07-29-2019, 09:13 PM
 
Location: Wyoming
9,724 posts, read 21,130,734 times
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I'm one of those dummies who made a million, then lost it. Long story that I won't get into, but it was easy. I'm pretty much broke today. A million isn't much when you spend money like a millionaire!
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Old 07-30-2019, 12:43 AM
 
24,503 posts, read 17,956,220 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WyoNewk View Post
I'm one of those dummies who made a million, then lost it. Long story that I won't get into, but it was easy. I'm pretty much broke today. A million isn't much when you spend money like a millionaire!
All it takes is to get divorced and half of it vaporizes. I had that happen in 1998. Inflation-adjusted, it took almost 20 years to get back to where I was in 1998.
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Old 07-30-2019, 12:53 AM
 
30,852 posts, read 36,738,377 times
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I haven't read through all the posts but I think "riches to rags" generally takes longer than one generation. Usually 3 generations. There's an expression--"Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in 3 generations." Many cultures around the world have similar expressions:

The wealth attrition rate is surprisingly high. It affects 90 per cent of family fortunes, according to one study from the United States. In some cases, the money itself disappears, and in others it's the family business that's lost......

Among the causes of the phenomenon are taxes, inflation, bad investment decisions and the natural dilution of assets as they are shared among generations of heirs.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/glob...ticle33757468/
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Old 07-30-2019, 07:57 AM
 
Location: East Coast of the United States
27,217 posts, read 28,295,642 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mister 7 View Post
Most lottery players are degenerates, and that’s why they always end up broke and don’t know how to manage money (probably why they play the lottery in the first place).

I know that sounds pretty harsh, but it’s true.
A lot of pro athletes seem to be in the same category, even though they are exceptionally gifted in one particular area.
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Old 07-30-2019, 08:40 AM
 
Location: East Coast of the United States
27,217 posts, read 28,295,642 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mysticaltyger View Post
Among the causes of the phenomenon are taxes, inflation, bad investment decisions and the natural dilution of assets as they are shared among generations of heirs.
These explanations complicate things unnecessarily.

The main reason that subsequent generations lose wealth is because they don't value the sacrifice that went into making the fortune in the first place. They feel entitled and spend all the money until it is close to zero.

This happens over and over again throughout history.
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Old 07-30-2019, 01:50 PM
 
Location: Raleigh
13,627 posts, read 12,242,954 times
Reputation: 20018
Quote:
Originally Posted by celticseas View Post
We hear the opposite all the time, someone who came from a council estate/ghetto and built themselves up (though it's not as common as the sensationalized stories).

The reverse I imagine must be even more so uncommon, middle class to extremely wealthy people who later lose everything and become homeless or live in abhorrent conditions.

People say that stories like these happened in the recession but is that really true? How many of those people were stable beforehand and owned their house, car, etc...fully without being on a mortgage/loan. Can a multi millionaire who has actual million dollar assets lose everything?
I can't think of anything where someone owned millions in assets (and more than just "on paper") and lost it all, if they created it legitimately, the exception being a few professional athletes. And that misses that they rarely seem to become totally incompetent of making a living; remember that many of them do know how to work hard, they're not all totally dumb, and financial sense isn't an "all or nothing" proposition.

Those that seem to have gone WAY down hill seem to usually be either the perpetrators, or victims, of crimes. IE, a HealthSouth exec that lost most of it in restitution/lawsuits and now runs a landscape business. Or, some victims of Bernie Madoff. But even they don't seem to be living in squalor/homeless/etc.

The only ones I can think of that have truly frittered it all away either never had it, or succumbed to drink/drugs/gambling, or both.
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Old 07-30-2019, 02:14 PM
 
Location: Raleigh
13,627 posts, read 12,242,954 times
Reputation: 20018
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigCityDreamer View Post
Another example is a brother of a friend of ours. Their grandfather slowly acquired huge real estate holdings around Atlanta. When he died, my wife's friend, her sister, and her brother all inherited part of his massive fortune. My wife's friend and her sister have prudently invested the money, taking courses in real estate and accounting to keep things growing. The brother--a prominent physician--married a total spendthrift who burned every single dime they inherited and every dime he earned. They literally had to file for bankruptcy, despite the fact that this guy made something like half a million a year from his surgery practice. Their massive house was foreclosed on. He tried to hit up his parents for more cash and they absolutely refused because his wife would have absolutely thrown that money away, too.
Funny you mention physicians...I've heard a version of that story enough (and it certainly doesn't require a goofball wife) that sometimes I think the only difference between them and pro athletes is that their knees don't affect their income. I know of one that's averaged $500K/year and at 60 doesn't yet have $1 Mil in retirement and who has to be bound for a lifestyle downgrade, another that works in his mid 70's because he can't afford to retire, a third that worked into his early eighties because he had three ex wifes and a lot of alimony, guys that have been sued by their partners, etc...
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