Ishmael
Literotica Guru
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2001
- Posts
- 84,005
The "What would you do with the lottery money?" thread got me thinking about money in general.
My first father in law inherited $13 million in 1903. So I ran that through the "inflation calculator" and it would be as if you inherited $351,351,351.35 today. Pretty heady chunk of change. And he only got half of the fortune, his sister got the other half.
My observation is that the first generation builds the fortune, the second adds to it, and the third brings shame to the family name, or has pissed away what residue there is. The list is long and infamous, the Kennedy's, Rockefeller's, Carnegie's, Guggenheim's, Singer's, Winchester's, DuPont's, well, you get the idea.
For the most part their lives were miserable. Most think their lives would be idyllic, but that is far from the truth. They were plagued by their children, and the attempts to control same.
My first ex-wife and her sister are busily pissing away the residue of that fortune. I wish her no ill, but there will be little to pass on to Vat and his siblings. In a manner that's fine by me. I watched as Jack, and later Hazel, used the money as a blunt instrument to control the lives of those around them. I refused to play that game, one of the reasons the marriage ended.
I have met some extraordinarily well adjusted and content multi-millionaires. They lived modestly. Two of note were brothers. One never married, the other had three children. The one that never married spent his weekends tending to his gardens, a double lot in a residential area. The other lived as modestly but was plagued by his children. Joe never had a quiet weekend.
Most people don't handle money very well, especially the newly wealthy. Most lottery winners are right back where they started after 5 years.
Big money changes lives in big ways. Ways that those who dream, never dream about. It's a serious pain in the ass that very few are equipped to deal with (and I don't claim I'm one).
Ishmael
My first father in law inherited $13 million in 1903. So I ran that through the "inflation calculator" and it would be as if you inherited $351,351,351.35 today. Pretty heady chunk of change. And he only got half of the fortune, his sister got the other half.
My observation is that the first generation builds the fortune, the second adds to it, and the third brings shame to the family name, or has pissed away what residue there is. The list is long and infamous, the Kennedy's, Rockefeller's, Carnegie's, Guggenheim's, Singer's, Winchester's, DuPont's, well, you get the idea.
For the most part their lives were miserable. Most think their lives would be idyllic, but that is far from the truth. They were plagued by their children, and the attempts to control same.
My first ex-wife and her sister are busily pissing away the residue of that fortune. I wish her no ill, but there will be little to pass on to Vat and his siblings. In a manner that's fine by me. I watched as Jack, and later Hazel, used the money as a blunt instrument to control the lives of those around them. I refused to play that game, one of the reasons the marriage ended.
I have met some extraordinarily well adjusted and content multi-millionaires. They lived modestly. Two of note were brothers. One never married, the other had three children. The one that never married spent his weekends tending to his gardens, a double lot in a residential area. The other lived as modestly but was plagued by his children. Joe never had a quiet weekend.
Most people don't handle money very well, especially the newly wealthy. Most lottery winners are right back where they started after 5 years.
Big money changes lives in big ways. Ways that those who dream, never dream about. It's a serious pain in the ass that very few are equipped to deal with (and I don't claim I'm one).
Ishmael
