Time for some “riches to rags” stories.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My uncle was very rich. He was the richest in his family, owned a ton of land and buildings. He had supported so many family members financially and also co-signed several loans for family. When he died, the fortune was significantly less. He had 3 daughters who grew up rich girls, wanted for nothing and all married men who were below them financially. All 3 husbands could not support my cousins to the life they were accustomed. Decades passed and besides their homes that the father bought for them, the cousins had no assets. Their husbands earned middle class incomes so they now live very MC lives.

So decades later they were still married to men who worked for a living? Did the three daughters also work? They might be happier with their new families they created. There was no tragedy in this story luckily.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Google Donald trump

[Anonymous]

Candice (?).and husband in New York, the husband who recently committed suicide because of losing all his money.

[Anonymous]

Riches to rags happens all the time. I had a relative who loved the high life - country clubs, private jets, shopping sprees. it was inherited wealth but having a successful business man for a husband. His wealth went down the tubes after some bad deals and they lost everything. Better to be prudent and wise with money.

[Anonymous]

Watch the Movie about Barbara Hutton.

She was the Richest Women in the world. She squandered every bit she had and died penniless with a net worth of zero.

But she lived a wild and fantastic life of wild spending

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Friend was an heiress but it was all tied up with Madoff. Never graduated college bc she didn’t need to do things like that. Madoff exposed, fortune evaporated, no degree no skills, no profession and had a nervous breakdown. She had married and divorced a man with no money. Died penniless at a young age. Her 3 kids are on welfare. I tell my kids this story as a cautionary tale. Always get an education and train for a profession.

I grew up with the Madoff sons. Their’s was a riches to rags story.

[Anonymous]

I know many kids who grew up privileged who haven't done much with their lives. Still have a trust fund but because they don't add much to it and seem to spend quite a bit I cannot see it lasting if they don't get real jobs. Most are in the arts and while lovely is not a money maker.

[Anonymous]

Screech from Saved by The Bell

[Anonymous]

Not sure it really counts, but quite a few doctors who live paycheck to paycheck during their careers really crash and burn after retirement. They never had to play "financial defense" their entire lives because there was always big money coming in that could get them out of any temporary crisis. Then when they retire, they burn through a significant pile of savings (millions) just because they have no financial discipline at all.

[Anonymous]

My grandma inherited a few hilariously bad investments called ground rents somewhere in the vicinity of Baltimore from her old Marylander relatives. These were an old-fashioned form of land ownership under other people's wholly-owned houses. The house owners were supposed to pay the fixed cost of the ground rent annually. Due to inflation, these ancient leases became largely valueless by the 1960s (e.g. $50/yr was real money in the early 1900s and not very much in the 1960s). To add insult to injury, the land in question ended up becoming a rough neighborhood and after a few more years nobody responded to payment inquiries.

This wasn't any meaningful part of my grandma's assets but it's an interesting DMV tale. Cousins who inherited the family farmland in Anne Arundel county did a lot better financially. That land soared in value over 100 years while the other land-backed asset crashed.

[Anonymous]

It’s not that hard to go from riches to rags. With 5-10 years of dementia care in retirement you’re looking at $1-2M gone. Then divide the rest among however many children and a $5M estate dwindles to under $1M per child after taxes. Say they spend $100K of that on whatever. The let’s say they have a health issue or a forced early retirement. You can easily see how they could end up with under $2M and by the time they die and divide their estate their kids inherit little to nothing.

[Anonymous]

I once dated a Vanderbilt. It turns out there were so many heirs to that fortune that most of them had little more than the name.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My uncle was very rich. He was the richest in his family, owned a ton of land and buildings. He had supported so many family members financially and also co-signed several loans for family. When he died, the fortune was significantly less. He had 3 daughters who grew up rich girls, wanted for nothing and all married men who were below them financially. All 3 husbands could not support my cousins to the life they were accustomed. Decades passed and besides their homes that the father bought for them, the cousins had no assets. Their husbands earned middle class incomes so they now live very MC lives.

Below them financially? Oh my. Was this in Victorian England?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My grandma inherited a few hilariously bad investments called ground rents somewhere in the vicinity of Baltimore from her old Marylander relatives. These were an old-fashioned form of land ownership under other people's wholly-owned houses. The house owners were supposed to pay the fixed cost of the ground rent annually. Due to inflation, these ancient leases became largely valueless by the 1960s (e.g. $50/yr was real money in the early 1900s and not very much in the 1960s). To add insult to injury, the land in question ended up becoming a rough neighborhood and after a few more years nobody responded to payment inquiries.

This wasn't any meaningful part of my grandma's assets but it's an interesting DMV tale. Cousins who inherited the family farmland in Anne Arundel county did a lot better financially. That land soared in value over 100 years while the other land-backed asset crashed.

that is interesting! the taxes on that land must have been more than the ground rent she got. I’ve only ever heard of that kind of thing with mobile homes. do you know what happened to it?

[Anonymous]

I know so many dysfunctional children of the rich. Never finishing college, marrying several times. Not just children, but also spouses who never worked.
Several are simply sitting at home and hiding from the world. Money allows that. But money doesn't fix what's wrong with them.