Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Has anyone in your family screwed you over? If so, tell me your story.
Here’s my story.
My husband has been a blue collar worker all his life and was able to establish a pretty successful business that employed several people. About 5 years ago, he started having really bad arthritis pain so he took a more passive/management role in his business.
We live about 3 hours from my inlaws and they asked us to move closer to them since they’re in their late 70s. This isn’t something we can just do on a whim, I’m a nurse so I can’t just pack up and WFH and my husband wouldn’t be able to manage his business from afar. So my inlaws suggested we sell our house, sell my husband’s business, use that money to buy a house close to them, and they would take care of the rest. “Take care of the rest” means my inlaws said they would make my husband an employee of theirs and then eventually my husband would take over their business. They own several million dollars worth of property in this area (all paid off btw) and their income comes from renting these properties out.
Long story short, we sold everything, packed our stuff up and moved closer to my inlaws. Once we were settled and started discussing things, my inlaws wanted to pay my husband a fraction of what they promised (in the 50k range – he netted in the 6 figure range with his business). My inlaws also mentioned selling their property so that they can “retire” in comfort and hire a private nurse when the time comes. I’m in shock. My husband’s in shock and depressed. We gave up so much to move closer to them and just got screwed. Luckily I make a decent living and our mortgage is fairly low so we can squeak by on my salary but with 2 teen kids and the COL in this area rising – I just don’t know what to do anymore.
Thanks for listening.
Sorry, OP, this is definitely on you. You uprooted your entire life because your in-laws said they were going to “take care” of some things for you?? This is not even a case of the devil being in the details—you didn’t ask basic questions like what your husband salary would be.
Also, what was your point in lamenting that they’re considering selling their properties? Were you just expecting them to give them to you? Of course old people are going to spend down some/all of their assets if end-of-life care is needed. You’re still going to get whatever is left of their estate once they pass, whether it’s in real estate, cash or stocks—but this happens after their death, not before.