A friend asked me "If you had just received a check for $4 million and had only lost 1/3 of the place while considering the fact that the reason it happened was on no account of your own or anyone else alive but was the fruits of an ancestor that had always lived by his means because he was land rich but money poor and you had been practicing the same, what do you think you would do?"
A friend
- Thread starter Wewild
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try to buy some of that third back?
Jogeephus
Well-known member
I know a man who lost his dad's farm when he took over. He got a job and got over "fools hill" and went back and bought the farm and then some. I always respected him for that. I think I would do the same or at least try to if it would work out on paper but I wouldn't do it if my motives were simply "pride driven". I hope this makes sense.
ga. prime
Well-known member
Make low risk investments and spend the rest of my life travelling the U.S. and Canada in a big sedan.
grannysoo
Well-known member
Had to read your statement twice. That's a long sentence....
Perhaps I would study history more, in order to affirm that history repeats itself and you should learn from it.
Perhaps I would study history more, in order to affirm that history repeats itself and you should learn from it.
john250
Well-known member
I'd try not to spend it all in one place. :lol:
Your friend sounds like he/she feels some guilt.
Your friend sounds like he/she feels some guilt.
john250":31tdux7x said:
I wouldn't say guilt ... maybe pride.
It seems he likes the life on the place that was forge by his fore fathers.
Maybe the question should be .... .... If you got a lot of money from no account of your own, would you feel that you earned it? What would you do with it? Would you say that you should manage it for your kids and their kids?
I don't think my friend carry's a credit cards balance.
VanC
Well-known member
Wewild":1agjm2kn said:
No.
Wewild":1agjm2kn said:
I don't know. Maybe pay off the motgage at least. I like to think that I would find a way to get most of it into the hands of people who really need it and really deserve it. But then if someone really dumped 4 million in my lap, who knows? Money and greed will corrupt most people. Who's to say I'm better and stronger than most people? It's one of those things that really can't be answered till it actually happens.
Not gonna happen to me anyway. Nowhere near that kind of money in my or my wife's families.
Wewild":1agjm2kn said:
That's always a consideration. Fortunately, my kids are very mature and self sufficient. More so than I was at their age. They don't really need it either and, like me, likely wouldn't feel they earned it.
VanC":1etgh6wu said:
What about your kid's kids and then theirs and so on?
My friends family has no needs. They work hard and have been successful at maintaining the lifestyle they desire.
They really have no wants that through their effort aren't supplied.
There is no way they will spend this money in their lifetime. Not a portion of it.
Having seen the bad side in some families..... who would think they would let a single generation screw this up for the ones that followed.
Jogeephus
Well-known member
I think the best answer is found in the Bible in the parable about the talents.
Jogeephus
Well-known member
Wewild, this sounds like a situation I'm familiar with where "death taxes" took a portion of the landholdings. Heir could not come up with the cash to pay Uncle Sam off and "lost" a portion of the farm to pay off this "debt".
In this particular situation, this person felt obligated to restore the land to its previous condition and he has worked hard to do so cause he wants to give each of his children the same opportunity he was given.
To prevent one of his children from sucking all this hard work up their nose, a corporation was formed and some trusted advisers have been selected to manage the property in the event he no longer can. It is a shame when several generations break their backs to build something only to have one generation to blow it. This really T's me off and is one of the many reason's I can't stand Paris Hilton.
If you have any specific questions pm me and I might have a tip or two for your friend based on experience.
In this particular situation, this person felt obligated to restore the land to its previous condition and he has worked hard to do so cause he wants to give each of his children the same opportunity he was given.
To prevent one of his children from sucking all this hard work up their nose, a corporation was formed and some trusted advisers have been selected to manage the property in the event he no longer can. It is a shame when several generations break their backs to build something only to have one generation to blow it. This really T's me off and is one of the many reason's I can't stand Paris Hilton.
If you have any specific questions pm me and I might have a tip or two for your friend based on experience.
llcupit
Well-known member
The saying is:
The first generation makes it.
The second generation uses it.
The third generation loses it.
The first generation makes it.
The second generation uses it.
The third generation loses it.
Wewild":3f0orrfe said:
I'd tell him to be glad he didn't lose it all because he was too young to take it over when his Grandpa died and all the relatives couldn't wait to sell it.
It's not always the 3rd generation that fritters it away. Sometimes it gets done a lot quicker!!!!!!!!!!
Lammie":2gxw287z said:Txwalt":2gxw287z said:This could be one of the toughest situations I wish I was in.
Walt
Amen, Walt! Please Lord, give me this sort of test. I'll try to do good with it and make my anscestors proud.
Maybe so.
