Tell us about your windfall. DOes it really ever happen?

[Anonymous]

DH is working on a project that could change our lives financially. We are not quitting any day jobs or doing anything different, just working really hard and crossing our fingers, but can't help hoping...

Did it ever happen to you? How? Stocks that shot up? Invention? Inheritance? Business idea?

How much?

Did you life change overnight? How? New house? Car? Quit your job?

Thanks for any stories. I'd love to hear some happy tales.

[Anonymous]

Received 30k from a lawsuit settlement. Boosted our savings enough to buy our first house at age 25.

[Anonymous]

$1 mil lump sum as a bonus for being the key to winning a huge case. Not life changing, but a nice cushion for a young associate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:$1 mil lump sum as a bonus for being the key to winning a huge case. Not life changing, but a nice cushion for a young associate.

I love how $1M isn't life changing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$1 mil lump sum as a bonus for being the key to winning a huge case. Not life changing, but a nice cushion for a young associate.

I love how $1M isn't life changing.

It doesn't allow a youngish person to retire comfortably. It COULD be life changing, depending on your lifestyle and income, but if you are nowhere near retirement, are already living comfortably and live someplace with a very high COL, once you've paid the taxes I wouldn't call it life changing.

[Anonymous]

I had an older cousin around my dad's age who I thought was a magician. I knew that one time we ran into him at a hospital while there for blood tests and I thought he went there to do magic for sick kids. Then when I was an older teenager he got divorced from his wife (the way we were related), and the family sort of blacklisted him. He moved to Florida. After college, I moved to Florida, and looked him up. We got together for lunch and I guess now that I was an adult, he felt he could tell me about what had been going on.

My cousin (by blood) had been a total bitch to him, and cut him off from his grandkids and his daughter. We talked a lot that day, and I stayed in touch with him for the entire three years I lived there, getting together about once a month. When my parents came to visit I got them together too.

After I moved, we fell out of touch a little bit, only sometimes talking via Facebook. Then he died. He left me several million dollars as the only member of the family who didn't push him away. It turned out that he invented some medical thing - some tweak thing for xrays? He was able to retire by selling the patent and when he retired he just did magic because that's what he liked.

My life did not change overnight. We didn't want to be stupid about it, so we actually sat on the money for a year to let the shock wear off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had an older cousin around my dad's age who I thought was a magician. I knew that one time we ran into him at a hospital while there for blood tests and I thought he went there to do magic for sick kids. Then when I was an older teenager he got divorced from his wife (the way we were related), and the family sort of blacklisted him. He moved to Florida. After college, I moved to Florida, and looked him up. We got together for lunch and I guess now that I was an adult, he felt he could tell me about what had been going on.

My cousin (by blood) had been a total bitch to him, and cut him off from his grandkids and his daughter. We talked a lot that day, and I stayed in touch with him for the entire three years I lived there, getting together about once a month. When my parents came to visit I got them together too.

After I moved, we fell out of touch a little bit, only sometimes talking via Facebook. Then he died. He left me several million dollars as the only member of the family who didn't push him away. It turned out that he invented some medical thing - some tweak thing for xrays? He was able to retire by selling the patent and when he retired he just did magic because that's what he liked.

My life did not change overnight. We didn't want to be stupid about it, so we actually sat on the money for a year to let the shock wear off.

Great story! Now that's a real windfall. Totally unexpected money.

[Anonymous]

We received an inheritance equal to $500K after taxes. We bought a much nicer house than we could have otherwise and put enough in our kids' 529s that we know at least in-state tuition will be covered. We invested the rest for retirement. We both still work so externally our lives haven't changed much, but we worry a lot less.

[Anonymous]

Inherited approx 5 million after parents' unexpected deaths. We are still young (mid 30s) and plan to potentially retire earlier. We bought a new house and set up with a financial advisor. Most of the money is tied up and doesn't affect out day to day.

[Anonymous]

Inherited 3 million from mother's estate. The windfall came in my 20's. I actually wished I'd gotten the money a bit later in life, as I didn't always make the best decisions about what to do with the money. Nothing terrible, just living a bit above our means and finding it hard to tighten our belts later on in our 50's to make sure the money lasts. Overall, though, the money was nice to have. Although losing my mom so early was hard, I am grateful for the money she left me.

[Anonymous]

$1 million for being a partner in a business that was sold. Put a downpayment on a second house. Put the rest in savings. It was nice to have, but not life changing from a monetary perspective (we earn a decent amount so it was equivalent to about 1-1.5 years of income). It was life changing from a life perspective as we essentially sold our souls to a big corporation, had to stay at the company for 3 miserable years to "earn out" the sale price, and ultimately start over. Not worth it in the end.

[Anonymous]

Received an inheritance from an uncle I had no contact with for over 40 years (he didn't have a will). Was able to retire with a Fed worker pension at age 58.

Thanks, Uncle Joe!

[Anonymous]

My parents saved and invested well and lived comfortably but below what they could have. I always planned as if I would get little or no inheritance from them since, as we all should know, things can happen and they could live to be 100 in a nursing home with dementia (as one of my cousin's wife's mother has), so I always considered it to be their money, not mine.

In the last 3+ years they both died at age 87 (father) and 86 (mother), and as a result my brother and I have each inherited a bit under $2M. I spent most of the past 5 yrs., and a good bit of the last 10-15, helping them get through various medical situations and emergencies (multiple cancers, car accident, dementia, etc.).

I learned from my father and always lived within my means and saved and invested (25+ yr. federal career after some private experience), so I had a very healthy nest egg of my own.

But this gave me the flexibility to not think twice about taking a buyout and early retirement this year and leaving a very dysfunctional work situation rather than working for 2 more years (maybe 4 if I wanted, if things got better).

We are not "rich" in the sense that we can start buying Bentleys and vacation houses and spending ridiculously (I'm 58, DW is 53 and will be working another 7-10 yrs. (non-Fed, much lower income), but we have the security to know that we should be able to maintain our lifestyle (which is fairly modest) with enough cushion to last a long time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My parents saved and invested well and lived comfortably but below what they could have. I always planned as if I would get little or no inheritance from them since, as we all should know, things can happen and they could live to be 100 in a nursing home with dementia (as one of my cousin's wife's mother has), so I always considered it to be their money, not mine.

In the last 3+ years they both died at age 87 (father) and 86 (mother), and as a result my brother and I have each inherited a bit under $2M. I spent most of the past 5 yrs., and a good bit of the last 10-15, helping them get through various medical situations and emergencies (multiple cancers, car accident, dementia, etc.).

I learned from my father and always lived within my means and saved and invested (25+ yr. federal career after some private experience), so I had a very healthy nest egg of my own.

But this gave me the flexibility to not think twice about taking a buyout and early retirement this year and leaving a very dysfunctional work situation rather than working for 2 more years (maybe 4 if I wanted, if things got better).

We are not "rich" in the sense that we can start buying Bentleys and vacation houses and spending ridiculously (I'm 58, DW is 53 and will be working another 7-10 yrs. (non-Fed, much lower income), but we have the security to know that we should be able to maintain our lifestyle (which is fairly modest) with enough cushion to last a long time.

Kudos for taking care of them and congratulations on your early retirement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had an older cousin around my dad's age who I thought was a magician. I knew that one time we ran into him at a hospital while there for blood tests and I thought he went there to do magic for sick kids. Then when I was an older teenager he got divorced from his wife (the way we were related), and the family sort of blacklisted him. He moved to Florida. After college, I moved to Florida, and looked him up. We got together for lunch and I guess now that I was an adult, he felt he could tell me about what had been going on.

My cousin (by blood) had been a total bitch to him, and cut him off from his grandkids and his daughter. We talked a lot that day, and I stayed in touch with him for the entire three years I lived there, getting together about once a month. When my parents came to visit I got them together too.

After I moved, we fell out of touch a little bit, only sometimes talking via Facebook. Then he died. He left me several million dollars as the only member of the family who didn't push him away. It turned out that he invented some medical thing - some tweak thing for xrays? He was able to retire by selling the patent and when he retired he just did magic because that's what he liked.

My life did not change overnight. We didn't want to be stupid about it, so we actually sat on the money for a year to let the shock wear off.

Great story! Now that's a real windfall. Totally unexpected money.

+1 You and your cousin sound like great people.