A good friend of mine thinks she is broke. She feels broke because she cannot find a job and had to move in with her mother. She does not have enough money left over at the end of every month and is constantly left shutting down all lifestyle activities until her next check arrives in the mail.
She inherited 7 million dollars a few years ago.
She did not blow through 7 million dollars. She inherited it in the form of a trust fund that gives her large lump sums twice a year and a fixed allowance every month.
So twice a year she blows her large lump sum on something that she has been wanting, and every month she blows through her allowance and is left with no money in the bank at the end.
Good money management skills she never learned.
And without getting into pondering why she never learned to manage her money or ponder why she STILL does not mange her money..I think I found out that she has an actual money tree.
It's the end of the month. So yes my freind called me whining that she only has $10 to last her the whole weekend, and that she hates living with her mom but cant afford to get an apartment. And once again I tried to figure out how a girl with 7 million dollars does not even have enough money to fill up her car with gas.
It seems that with the current economic crisis, her trustees have cut her monthly allowance nearly in half in order to preserve the money to make it last for both her and her young daughters lifetime. So my friend who is terrible with money to begin with, has not handled the paycut very well.
But while listening, I was caught up in a vision of a tree made of money. And every month the tree would produce little fruits that were harvested and given to my freind. She consumes the fruits of the investments which is interest...but she can never get at the main trunk of the tree which is made up of the principal. (And to listen to her complain- you betcha she has really tried to get her hands on that tunk!)
Anyways- my friend has a money tree! One of the most saught after but elusive mythical objects of all time. And my friend has one.
And of course she doesnt even know it. I was envisioning her money tree as she was complaining about what was happening to her. I was picturing the tree all green and healthy with a halo around it.
Funny- she understands the CONCEPT regarding why her allowance was cut down- she agrees that it does need to happen in order to keep collecting the allowance for her lifetime...but she cant really comprehend her role in this story. Like, that she should adjust her lifestyle to accomodate the changes. Or that if she had saved some of it, she would not be hurting now. Or that if she had planted her fruit in investments of her own- she could have a second money tree for her discrecionary use!
Anyways, I didnt have much to say to her. She just looks for sympathy. She doesnt ever want advice or to learn anything. But I did get amused at the little vision that popped into my head as she described what had happened to her.
And- I do love her. I truly love this girl and think she has a lot to offer. But her money management skills- I shake my head because I have never seen anybody so lazy with their money.
My freind has a money tree and now I want one.
September 1st, 2009 at 09:11 pm
September 1st, 2009 at 09:53 pm 1251842002
September 1st, 2009 at 09:53 pm 1251842018
September 1st, 2009 at 10:14 pm 1251843253
You have to solve your money problems before you get actual money. Big money just intensifies any money problems you have.
September 2nd, 2009 at 12:40 am 1251852044
I don't actually think 7 million is a LOT of money when you can consider it has to last for her lifetime...
say she is thirty so that is 50 years providing... then you have inflation... hoping that the investments outfun inflation... trustee fees... etc... I'd feel rich with a 7 million trust fund but not wealthy....
I think a 6 month stint living on Social Security in Government housing would perhaps help your friend make the most of her good fortune....
September 2nd, 2009 at 03:14 am 1251861264
September 2nd, 2009 at 04:21 am 1251865300
I once had a dream that a friend of mine let me borrow his newspaper and in the folds, I found some kind of winning sticker worth $4 million. I was trying to decide if I should share it with him or not. In my dream, I calculated that if I had $2 million, I could withdraw 5% a year forever and live off $100,000, so I could share. Yes, I did math in my dream...I'm a dork. And from that point on, I set $2 million as my ultimate goal.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:46 am 1251938814
That was a neat vision you had though.