theweek.com
Last Updated:
January 10th, 2015
The windfall was a blessing — and a curse: What blowing a $250k inheritance taught me…
A week before my 17th birthday, I was summoned by my father for a serious talk. To say this request was out of the ordinary would be an understatement. We’d never been particularly close, and my dad was definitely not the type to sit down for a heart-to-heart. But he said the matter was important, so I agreed to talk with him the following morning.
Being an impatient teenager, I couldn’t stop thinking about what the news could be. The curiosity was killing me — so much so that I actually woke him up in the middle of the night to find out exactly what was going on. He sleepily rubbed his eyes and told me the news that would change my life forever.
He reminded me that a decade earlier, my mother had been involved in a medical malpractice suit shortly before she passed away. In the shadow of her death, I was just an 8-year-old kid, trying to make sense of it all. I only vaguely remembered her going to court.
That night, my father told me that the money from her lawsuit had been waiting for me in a trust fund for years. Upon turning 18, I’d receive $250,000 — and could do whatever I wanted with it.
Soon after coming into my windfall, I was bombarded with people who were only interested in my money. Acquaintances were constantly throwing investment pitches my way, and friends expected me to foot the bill. I gradually became skilled at reading others’ motivations…
