Living without money can be extremely stressful. It’s overwhelming when you don’t know where your next paycheck is coming from and whether you’ll be able to put food on the table. However, there are moments when you have a bout of good luck that can transform your life.
User u/willow-mist sparked an interesting discussion on the r/AskReddit forum. Folks who came into large sums of cash very quickly opened up how it all changed their lives. Scroll down for their stories about the impact that winning, inheriting, and earning lots of money had on these people.
Bored Panda got in touch with the author of the viral thread, u/willow-mist, and they were kind enough to share their thoughts on wealth. You’ll find our full interview with them below.
#1
Not me, but my sister. 2017, she had no permanent residence, bouncing from couch to couch. She was working for minimum wage, just keeping herself afloat. Something happened and my nephew (son of a different sister) was taken into protective custody, and she and I took on the responsibility together. I moved them into my house, which was really small, so they had to share the living room. She worked really hard and saved to get a tiny apartment for them, struggled to furnish it and pay the bills, but she did it. Then another one of my sisters OD’d on heroin with my niece present (luckily for her, there was narcan on hand and someone smart enough to administer it), so my niece was also taken into protective custody, and my sister took her on as well. The money from CPS and state benefits helped, but they still struggled. Then in 2019, her estranged bio father took his life, and the trust fund that her bio grandfather set up was passed down to his only living relative – my sister. Literally overnight she became a VERY well off person. She owns a really nice house now, has a new car, her back yard is like a paradise for my nephew and the 2 other foster kids she took in (my niece ended up back with her mom after she completed rehab, etc.) and she never has to work again. They want for absolutely nothing. No one deserved it more than her.
Image source: treremay, Kindel Media / pexels (not the actual photo)
#2
My relatives and I divided the inheritance equally, each bought an apartment, no one took more, acted humanely.
Image source: EnigaticF, Nicole Michalou / pexels (not the actual photo)
#3
I’m an independent contractor, and my job requires a lot of travel, and for years I made decent money but it was never really enough to own a home or really even have my own place.
I got to a point where I signed a contract with a massive bonus and all these perks, and essentially went from making slightly more than your average middle manager to clearing a million dollars in less than a year. It was literally a life changing opportunity.
The biggest change was just being able to do all the things I held off on doing because I never had the money. I was finally able to buy a home. I bought one for my younger brother too, helped him start his own business and now he’s co-owner of a logistics and shipping company. My sister is disabled and I was finally able to get her into an amazing long term care facility. Several of my best friends work with me and their lives changed in similar ways.
In 2 years time, I didn’t just make my own life better, but I helped make the lives of some of the people I care about the most in this world significantly better. People that say “money doesn’t buy happiness” are ridiculous.
Image source: TheTrueGoldenboy, KoolShooters / pexels (not the actual photo)
#4
Stress levels before and after. It’s like night and day. Being poor is stressful. Very stressful. Having money means having options that coincidentally means less worrying about making things work & more focus on actually figuring them out. Which leads to more success.
You simultaneously have more options while ending up needing plan b less. It’s almost cruel. Money doesn’t bring happiness, but it absolutely kills 90% of actual real life day to day stress. Which kind of paves the way for positive change.
Image source: redditingatwork23, Anna Shvets / pexels (not the actual photo)
#5
Freedom from every day financial worries
Pro Tip: do NOT tell anyone – people will make you miserable 😩.
Image source: MoMoney302, Godisable Jacob / pexels (not the actual photo)
#6
We inherited a substantial amount of money recently. We knew there was an inheritance coming, but it was easily 3x what we thought it was. My day to day life didn’t change. I still work, same job, as does my husband. Everything is the same – except relief when thinking about the future, which is huge.
We took half and put it in an account for our kids – their college, grad school, etc. are completely paid for. We then took the other half and hired an advisor we know well to invest it for our retirement. The plan is to park it until we both stop working, still decades away.
We also cut big checks to our beloved niece (for school in the future) and two charities that are close to our hearts.
The thought that our future is secure is breathtakingly amazing.
Image source: GroundbreakingAge254, Marcus Aurelius / pexels (not the actual photo)
#7
Quit my second job, paid off all of our debt, purchased a house (only debt currently) and could finally afford to start a family. Sure money can’t buy happiness, but it sure as hell can get you a lot closer to it.
Image source: bootyquack88, Mark / pexels (not the actual photo)
#8
My mouth. I spent 20k at the dentist.
Image source: welchplug, Anna Shvets / pexels (not the actual photo)
#9
Everything changed. Firstly, I lost my father, that was the biggest issue, then I lost my job over attendance during settling his estate, his home being broken into by his meth head neighbors after they found out he died, then his ex-girlfriend sued us for half the estate. Then everyone I know came out of the wood work asking for money. Then when I refused to give people money for existing, they all decided that I was an a*****e and didn’t want to have anything to do with me. I lost pretty much all of my acquaintances that I thought were my friends. I paid off all my bills, bought a reliable car, then bought a house to make a better life for my children and put as much away as I could. Only a handful of people continued to be a part of our lives after. I found out quickly who my real friends were.
Image source: No_Gap_2700, viresh studio / pexels (not the actual photo)
#10
For me it wasn’t like a lump sum thing, but rather my husband joining the IBEW (electrical union) and overnight going from making like $20/hr to over $30/hr (and now up to about $40/hr) changed our lives. We went from barely making ends meet to having a savings account, buying a house, a brand-new car, finally getting to take proper vacations, even getting to fly on a plane for the first time and visit a whole other country! As someone who lived the first 30-some-odd years of my life in poverty, the last decade has been a huge in terms of quality of life. And not just cuz I can buy name-brand toilet paper and no longer live in a mobile home, but because my stress levels have been significantly lowered as well. I’m not worrying about bills, I have a little extra money to pursue hobbies and interests, and if something messes up in the house, like my washing machine last month, no problem. I might not be able to afford a brand-new one spur of the moment, but I can at least afford to buy a new shift actuator and pump and fix it myself.
Image source: Dr_Girlfriend_81, Asad Photo Maldives / pexels (not the actual photo)
#11
I inherited 100K from my grandmother. Put it all into High yield accounts, interest payments every month got larger & I feel way less stressed about money now. I do withdraw a little every year on my birthday to “treat” myself. Other than that, I refuse to touch any of it & still live within my means. Hoping to use it for a down payment one day.
Image source: Large-Speed1002, Boris Hamer / pexels (not the actual photo)
#12
My grandmother had an education fund made for me and put money in it every month. I was pretty young and my mom was poor and wanted to use that money to buy pot and cigarettes and other stuff. She kept bugging me and bribing me with stuff. I told my grandmother who made sure my mom couldn’t access the account.
Image source: GwendolynReed53, Andrea Piacquadio / pexels (not the actual photo)
#13
Nothing changed for us – matriarch of the family realised nobody is really financially educated enough to handle a change from middle class to that, so she proposed everyone puts their slice of the cake into state bonds (atm the gains beat inflation by a good bit, we’re not American) and that’s what everybody did.
We all essentially tossed the can 5 years down the road, and are living exactly the same as before.
Image source: CuriousButNotJewish, Tima Miroshnichenko / pexels (not the actual photo)
#14
A company I was vested with sold. I made well into the seven figures. Didn’t touch it for a year at the advice of a business mentor. It was probably the best advice I’ve ever gotten. It really stopped any potential lifestyle creep in its tracks. Now I don’t have to take s**t at work, and can spend as much time with my kids as I want. .
Image source: IWasSayingBoourner, Ketut Subiyanto / pexels (not the actual photo)
#15
Most big lottery winners end up poor or dead in a few years. If you win, keep it secret. Move if you have to.
Image source: rouxjean, Waldemar / pexels (not the actual photo)
#16
Fixing things is no longer about the cheapest way to do it yourself but about weighing a good DYI solution vs just writing a check and being done with it.
E.g. a tree needs to be cut down. Without money you think about what saw you can use or borrow. Renting is a last resort but viable. With money you think that owning a chainsaw would be useful, so maybe you should buy one. Beyond that, do I really want to drop this thing myself or should I just find someone to do it for $500.
As a specific answer, I now pay someone to cut my grass.
Image source: Red__M_M, Ksenia Chernaya / pexels (not the actual photo)
#17
It fell on me when I was 13, so it took six years before I had full access to it.
It allowed me to fund my own education through a Master’s Degree.
Image source: No-Breadfruit9399, Vantha Thang / pexels (not the actual photo)
#18
When my father in law passed, my wife (and her 3 siblings) each got $2.2M in stock/cash from his estate. Having a pretty successful business, it didn’t change my/my wife’s life, but it’s set up our 3 daughters (and 4th child on the way) with a pretty good nest egg for them to be able to buy their first house, start a business, or take a risk that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to do.
Note – the money is theirs once they turn 25.
Image source: Curious-Train1941, olia danilevich / pexels (not the actual photo)
#19
My grandma left me 70k and I invested all of it. Also didn’t tell any of my cousins and only my parents know. Hoping 70k in 20 yrs in the S&P will do retirement well that I can retire by 55. That’s the dream at least. Also didn’t spend it on anything down.
Image source: HateTo-be-that-guy, Ron Lach / pexels (not the actual photo)
#20
When I was younger my family sued my elementary school district for negligence when I repeatedly reported bullying but they ignored it, eventually culminating in sexual assault. The district settled for $200,000 ish but I was to get it in installments when I turned 18. The first installment was $13,000; it was a hell of a nice birthday present.
The biggest change was I didn’t need to rush finding a job and I was able to pay for my associate’s degree 100% out of pocket and take a trip to Japan before adult responsibilities started, which I always wanted to do. Also doing stuff with friends was no biggie because doing things like movies was pretty much pocket change. I did get a job a few months after graduating Highschool but I also knew if I lost it I would be OK, so I got to not stress too much about it (even though I ended up doing so anyway).
Unfortunately I also had zero experience managing money, since my family had horrible money management and no one ever taught me how to be responsible with money. I went through all of that first installment in less than a year on dumb c**p, the only thing being really valuable was paying for school and travelling.
To this day I’m still kicking myself for a decision I never made. At one point there was a house that needed some work but it was all pretty minor; things I could either learn to do on my own at worse hire someone to do pretty cheaply, like painting the house, replacing a couple of pipes, and swapping out some boards on the back porch. It had 2 bedrooms, a living room, full kitchen, and two bathrooms with showers in both. We lived in a small town and knew the property owner and he offered to sell me the house and the land for $120,000 with a meager $1,000 down payment as soon as I could get a mortgage. This was an *insane* deal and I was such an idiot for not realizing that. Could have fixed that house up and used it to work up to a bigger house.
Advice to anyone who has received or will be receiving a settlement: Put like 90% of that s**t in savings and pay for everything with your salary. Trust me. In this economy being able to afford a down payment on a house is everything.
Image source: TheshizAlt, cottonbro studio / pexels (not the actual photo)
#21
You start identifying the things that can be fixed with money, and those that cannot.
Image source: DreyfusBlue, Karolina Grabowska / pexels (not the actual photo)
#22
I stopped caring about keeping my job since I have a safety net from stonks. I can push back on stuff that’s unreasonable now, and I’m a lot more confident when asking for raises knowing I can comfortably quit anytime.
Image source: Antereon, Mikhail Nilov / pexels (not the actual photo)
#23
You find that lots of things you thought you wanted, you don’t want now you can have them.
Image source: RoseCushion, Ron Lach / pexels (not the actual photo)
#24
I’m less reluctant to speak my mind at work. Having the “GFY” option available is very liberating.
Image source: Muy_Sarcastic, MART PRODUCTION / pexels (not the actual photo)
#25
Motorcycle accident with truck in 2016. TBI/broke right arm/helicoptered to ICU/breathing tube and feeding tube/rehab for years to get my mind functioning again.
Lawyered up and got $300k from the trucking company. I’m making my monthly mortgage payments from that money.
It’s a house but good God I would never want anyone to ever go through what I or my family who supported me the whole way went through. .
Image source: UnderstandingEast721, Love Deep / pexels (not the actual photo)
#26
I didn’t cry at the thought of my car needing a new clutch or brakes or anything for that matter. i was also able to go back to school since im able to pay for the tuition in full .
Image source: anon, cottonbro studio / pexels (not the actual photo)
#27
These comments have taught me not to worry about inheriting material things to my children. I will leave them a paid-off house and a fully funded education, and I will enjoy spending my money with my wife.
Image source: The_SuperTeacher, Harrison Haines / pexels (not the actual photo)
#28
My student loans disappeared overnight (paid off in 1 large lumpsum with some of the settlement check)
That’s about it though, my life stayed the same other than that.
Image source: ElGordo1988, Andrea Piacquadio / pexels (not the actual photo)
#29
I (32m with wife, and 2 kids) got a windfall inheritance (low 8 figures). The only change has been that money doesn’t stop us from doing anything now. Going out to eat, vacations, having a handy man fix things around the house, house keepers, nanny, private schools. The convenience you can buy is amazing.
Looking forward, we’re hoping to retire early and enjoy our young kids for as long as they’ll let us.
Image source: djhh33, Jep Gambardella / pexels (not the actual photo)
#30
You know how on online shopping or real estate listings you can list things “Highest Price to Lowest”? I thought that was hilarious and that nobody would ever use it. It turns out that it’s really useful when money is no object and you prefer to not spend time looking at the lower end options.
Image source: lessafan, Eziz Charyyev / pexels (not the actual photo)
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