We tend to think of "rich" as some sort of destination or goal post. It's a place we work hard to get to, and once we get there we're good. Rags to riches story over. Somebody turn it into an inspirational movie with a strings-heavy soundtrack.
But what about riches to rags stories? Do they really happen?
One Reddit user asked:
Ex-rich people of Reddit, when did you lose everything?
And yeah, pretty much none of it played out like the Goldie Hawn classic, Overboard. The real world is much, much crueler and doesn't involve anywhere near as much amnesia.
Millionaire For A Moment
My ex had a friend who inherited a million dollars in cash and near-cash assets when his only parent died. He was 20 years old.
Now, you aren't just going to retire at 20 on a million bucks - but it's a great way to pay for college, maybe buy a car and a down payment on a house, and save/invest the rest. Basically, it's a really good way to start your adult life and nearly ensure you'll be quite wealthy in your later years.
Did he do any of that? Nope.
He bought himself a ridiculous luxury car, bought cars for his friends, bought wardrobes of designer clothes, threw huge parties repeatedly, etc. Ended up broke in two or three years and went back to waiting tables to make rent.
Sad to see.
- 05110909
Dad Was Cooking The Books
Growing up, my best friends family was extremely well to do. I'm talking running with the bulls in Spain, private jets to Aspen to ski kind of rich. My friend had every toy, gaming console, and cool piece of clothing imaginable.
Right before our senior year of highschool, my friend's dad ended his life.
Turns out he was cooking the books at his business as well as falsifying his his taxes. The company was basically worth nothing. He was looking at 30 years in prison, so he just decided to end it all.
My best friend went from a 6,500 square foot mansion on the water to a 1,200 square foot apartment with his mom and two siblings.
He eventually adjusted to being normal like the rest of us and he is still my best friend.
Would Have Been Set For Life
fox tv marcus pierce GIF by LuciferGiphyMaybe not exactly rich, but my sister would have been set for life. Her father died from cancer and she lost both her eyes to cancer at the age of 6 months. The way things were set up, she was going to be able to draw her father's social security the rest of her life so long as she never married and had a full ride to an all blind college, dorm and everything, paid for through scholarships.
She was a really smart, straight A student and she was going to be a court stenographer. So, this pay combined with the social security may not have made her exactly rich, but she would have been extremely comfortable in life/close to rich.
A little white before she was suppose to leave for college, my parents found a note on to the front door. It was from her and her new husband.
She had ran off and gotten eloped! Right out of high school!
He discouraged her from going to college. The man was 20 years older than her, about a year or two older than my mother. He later admitted he wanted to marry my sister because he knew she'd be able to draw a disability check.
So, not only did she lose her scholarships, but she also lost her father's social security before she even received the first check from it. And that man got her involved in a lot of drugs.
He was a man from the local church that basically manipulated my sister and did that thing that most abusers do by making the person they're targeting feel incredibly special and desirable. My sister, being only 18, I think 16-17 when they met, took the bait.
They divorced and she's clean now, had been for a few good years. But now has to live off her disability check and food stamps.
She talks a lot about how she wished she had just gone off to college and it's sad to see how one bad choice changed everything. She really encourages her daughters to focus on education and was one of the driving forces that encouraged me to get my GED when I dropped out of high school.
I Don't Regret It At All
I wasn't "rich" but comfortably upper middle-class. If I wanted to spend my birthday in Paris, I could, for example.
However, I was in a toxic marriage and had been out of the workforce for years raising my children. Once they were older, I got help for my depression and got out of the toxic marriage. At the time I worked for a local newspaper and was able to put a down payment on a modest house for myself and the kids.
Then the housing market crashed. Then the print news market crashed. Then my ex-husband withheld child support. I had several VERY lean years while I built up my own business, and it was incredibly hard.
But you know what? I don't regret it at all. I came through to the other side a stronger, much happier person. I have a great relationship with my now-grown children and their children. My income isn't impressive, but I have what I need. I can stand on my own two feet and overcome adversity. Looking back, I wouldn't trade the experience of the last 15 years for anything.
Taking The Breakup Badly
I wouldn't say I was rich but I had a job that paid $120,000 year working quality control for a pavement company. My girlfriend of 10 years (who I was about to propose to) left me out of the blue.
I had bought a ring. I saved up enough money to help with the wedding and even enough to put down on a decent condo for a starter home.
Anyway after she left me I fell into drugs and alcohol and ended up losing my job.
I also got into a car accident when driving drunk. I hit a concrete barrier and only hurt myself, thank god. Don't drink and drive.
Believe it or not I still kept drinking.
I broke my my back and shoulder blade in an atv accident - again I was drunk as f*ck. Now I'm held together by pins and needles and am in constant pain.
I can't do labor work anymore and now make minimum wage in the food industry. I lost 3 more jobs due to drugs and alcohol before I finally checked myself into rehab.
The Bosnian War
I have never been rich, but my family was well above average when I was a kid. My father was a mechanic and in 1981 he bought a car repair shop that made us money pretty well.
Then in 1992 the Bosnian war started and our hometown of Sarajevo was put under a siege that lasted until 1996.
In 1994 we were able to escape the city and move into a refugee camp. When the war ended we returned to Sarajevo and my father's car repair shop as well as our home were in total ruins after all the artillery and mortar fire.
We were able to get a new home fairly quickly with the help of some of our relatives, but we never got the car repair shop fixed. It was in such bad condition we just demolished it after we had sold all found scrap metal and usable tools.
Riches To Rags To Riches Again
My parents had built up a multi-million dollar company over a couple decades before and during my early childhood.
Around 2006 they separated and ran each other dry in court. Then the crash came and bankrupted both of them and they lost everything they put years into.
After my mother's parents passed away she was able to take a portion of an investment account that built millions from her father's stock from working in the railroad industry.
My father rebuilt his business from scratch repaired his credit and has grown it bigger than it ever was before.
By the age of 21 I've witnessed my life go from rich to broke to wealthy. I am in a great position in life now for my age, but work, plan, live and learn like everything could be again gone in the blink of an eye.
Expensive, But Cool
twins yes GIFGiphy"Congratulations! You're having twins!"
Wasn't rich but doing pretty good...but damn kids are expensive. But they're cool so all is good. Who needs to travel anyway?
Dissolved A Thriving Company
During this year's outbreak, after I gave out my company's final cash flow to employees, we dissolved the thriving international trade company, and I ended up the same.
Although the company has no employees, I still stick to it and don't want to give up the support of our international customers. I never give up, but this year is not good.
- JD868
An Alzheimer's Donation
My Grandma lost it all because of her Alzheimer's. She inherited most of the money from her husband when he passed. It totaled a bit over $2mil with about $150k divided between the 5 children.
My father (her son) does everything for her as she is 93 and has severe Alzheimer's. The plan was to split the money equally between the 5 children when it was her time.
About 2 years ago she started asking my father for money to pay for groceries and other random little things. He got curious about why she would need money and checked the bank account with the inheritance in it.
It was all gone.
She had gotten the approval to empty the account from the bank - without my father's consent. That consent was supposed to happen given her mental state.
She donated everything to the Catholic Church...
Not saying that is a bad use of the money, but could've been used to improve the lives of her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.
Marry Back Into Wealth
Family was wealthy - or more precisely my grandfather was wealthy. Somewhere in the mid 7 figure range.
My grandfather started his own company and was making bank. He had 3 daughters and finally a son - my dad.
My dad was a slacker through and through. My grandfather knew this but had advise all his kids to marry wealthy. My 3 aunt's married wealthy and all still live in that mid 7 figure lifestyle.
My dad married my mom (a farmer) and had me and my siblings.
We immigrated to Canada and still made bank. Definitely loved comfortably up until my grandfather passed. Then my parents got divorced and my dad had custody of us.
He left the country and took my 2 siblings with him. Dumped them in a boarding school and left me with relatives in Canada.
At this point my mom had already gone off and was doing her own thing. Many relationships and my dad had dried up all the inheritance with his lavish spending.
I'm talking straight out of a movie. He had girlfriends that he gifted vehicles, luxury clothes, etc to. Meanwhile I started working at 16 so I could afford lunch because my relatives didn't care about me.
My dad has still told me to this day that I should engage with wealthy people and marry back into wealth.
She Got Nothing
I have an older relative who lived in luxury, her husband took care of everything and she was living in different countries every other year and had mansions.
That must've made her think she was invincible because she f*cked some other dude and had his kid. Her husband wanted at least loyalty from her - so he divorced her.
She got nothing, she now lives in the boonies and the only thing that reminds her of the previous lifestyle is the engagement ring she lied about losing.
Her baby daddy actually took custody of the kid and raised him well.
The husband has never contacted her or her family, believing they hid the affair from him.
Reichpogromnacht
My family used to own several apartment buildings and the German equivalent to malls. They were also Jewish.
On the reichspogromnacht (1938, the Night where the Nazis staged a "people's uprising" against the Jews. Most rioters and looters weren't, in fact, angry Germans but SS and SA dressed in normal civilian clothing) they were having dinner with friends as were therefore not at home when the Nazis raided and burned their house.
They paid a Taxi driver to to drive my grandfather through Berlin for the rest of the night while looting, murdering, and the first deportations were happening and went back to the friends place they were having dinner at. The next day, all property was seized by the nazis, the bank accounts taken, the house robbed and partially burned.
They took the last bit they had, bought jewelry, fled to the Netherlands and went to America.
- MeMphi-S
War Reparations
My great great grandfather was the mayor of Prague (twice) as well as a successful lawyer, and my great grandmother owned several hotels where wealthy people would holiday on the Mediterranean.
Then Czechoslovakia turned communist and the government told her they would seize everything and she could leave or they would seize everything and she could stay.
She left and came to Australia. My grand parents and mother too.
Apparently there are letters from various war reparations departments in Europe suggesting that we may or may not have returned monies awaiting collection.
However since my grandmother and great grandmother have passed on, the chain of providence is getting thinner. Not to mention the costs of getting translators and lawyers involved just to find out if there even is anything of value in there.
Could be several hundred thousand euros, could be several euros. But since we can't even travel to Czech Republic at the moment there is no way to know
- W2ttsy
A New Roommate
When my dad left my mom for someone twenty years younger. My dad was hoping my mom would let her move in with us.
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/
Redditor Frozen_yoghurt123 asked:
"Who is the 'black sheep' of your family?"
I'm the black sheep or at least I'd like to think so.
Join me...
Scandal
"Probably my dad's cousin, who went to prison for murdering his lover's husband."
DW_555
Oh My Wow GIFGiphy"biggest disappointment"
"My Dad. He is the only one of 6 siblings who wasn't a huge f**k up. And yet, before my Grandma died she stated that he was her 'biggest disappointment.' He is estranged from his surviving siblings... not by his choice. It honestly blows my mind."
Unfair_Biscotti2828
"Toxicity is often a group mindset thing; people don't want you to leave because they are dysfunctionally co-dependent on each other and need each other to justify their own shortcomings in life. A lot of the 'family loyalty' stuff is typically shouted loudest by those who are the least good idea to stay loyal towards."
Creative_Recover
The Dead
"My great uncle who stole my great grandfathers identity, stole a couple million dollars, and ran off. No one even knew he was alive until my great grandfathers funeral in 2009. No one has seen him since. My grandma started to cry because she honestly thought he was dead."
"Everyone else just kind of nodded on his direction and went on with the rest of the funeral. I just remember being very confused because I was 9 and I had never met this guy who my dad pulled me aside and told me he was my great uncle. It was a few years later that I got the full story."
valkyrieonaunicorn
"matriarch"
"According to my mean aunt, the 'matriarch' in her own mind, it's my twin brother because "he doesn't care about family now that he's a doctor." (He's a resident. Chief resident. He works ridiculous hours and spends the rest of the time recovering from work.)"
"According to my ex-MIL (who still counts because she's Son's grandma), it's me, for divorcing her son."
"According to everyone else, it's Mean Aunt. The rest of us are warm and caring and compassionate. We have our moments; all of us have been accidentally thoughtless or done something selfish once in a while, but we're not deliberately mean and snarky all the time."
insertcaffeine
Everybody
"My immediate family are the black sheep of the entire family."
DarthDregan
John Stamos Cheers GIF by GrandfatheredGiphySounds like everyone has a little black sheep in them.
People Issues
"By now, my brother for cutting off everyone because he prefers his rude, selfish, paranoid, narcissist wife over all of us."
"My wife is the black sheep of her family in the sense that she's the only one who isn't a rude, selfish, paranoid narcissist."
Lvcivs2311
Joe Dirt Brother GIFGiphySo Dumb
"Me. My granddaddy told me 'I’ve only had the sheriff knock on my door two times in my 80 years, and both times he was looking for you! 'I did some dumb sh*t, caused a little trouble, burned a few bridges but always managed to stay out of jail. Partly because my sister has kept an attorney on retainer for me since I was 16."
This_Personality3731
Liar Liar
"My younger brother (2nd of 4) is a compulsive liar and it got him in a lot of little trouble as a teen, then he told his wife he graduated a big college when we're not even sure if he got his GED because he failed to graduate HS, went to some GED school and eventually just stopped going."
"IF he graduated college, he never mentioned he was going in the 4+ years it takes nor mention graduation or have a diploma. He's not a bad dude, but now family time is super awkward when he and his wife are talking about 'their' college team."
UniqueUsername82D
The NOT good girl...
"My aunt's daughter. She’s been in jail for drugs, stolen money from my aunt and other family members to use on drugs and physically abused my aunt. My aunt has tried getting her help, but nothing has worked. She’s just not a good person, and everyone in my family, except my aunt, doesn’t want anything to do with her. I haven’t seen her in 8 years now, and I’m happy about that."
Hello_Im_the_world
Maria?
"A former nun - my great aunt - left the religious life and got married. She called herself 'the black sheep of the family' because her habit was black."
Back2Bach
Excited Julie Andrews GIF by The Rodgers & Hammerstein OrganizationGiphyWell the black sheep sound like the most interesting family members.
Redditor OldAboba asked:
"What is the best non-sexual physical feeling you’ve ever felt?"
Adele. Adele live. She sends me.
Floating
Relaxed Exit Strategy GIF by Hannah Bronfman Giphy"I got a professional full body (everything but my man parts) massage a few years back for the first and so far only time at a spa after the recommendation from a coworker. I felt like I was floating on a cloud for the next few days."
gil_beard
Through your nose...
"Sneezing when you're sick. Then you get that about 20 second feeling of breathing through your nose again and you like ahh that's what I aspire to at the moment."
Sanguiniutron
"Or the very last sneeze of your illness. During a fire drill in high school, I was ambling out after fighting a head old for a few days. The alarm was killing my head which was already throbbing from the sinus pressure."
"I was nearing the field, well away from my classmates, when I cough/sneezed out a huge, green loogie - cleared it about three feet, no icky trail - and by the time I was walking back to the building I was feeling pretty much back to normal. No more head cold after that. Never had something like that ever happen again where there was such an abrupt end to the head cold."
NnyIsSpooky
'migraine cocktail'
"Right after a migraine goes away. It's almost a spiritual experience."
LarryLong*alls_
"This was going to be my answer. I was in the ER one time for a really bad migraine. They gave me what they called a 'migraine cocktail.' When they pushed it through the IV I could feel the cold liquid make its way through my body, up to my head. Once it hit my brain, the migraine was gone. It was pure ecstasy. Even better was that cocktail had Benadryl in it so I fell asleep not long after and slept so good."
master_baitor12
Shake It
"That stretch til you shake when you wake up."
Quanisha8472
"I once stretched too hard in the morning and got the worst calf cramp ever... it looked like a prune and I thought I would die from the pain. Couldn't stretch in bed for months afterwards out of fear it would happen again."
tevelis
"When you move over 50, it turns into that stretch til you put your back into a muscle spasm that lasts days."
wrichards12
The Itch
Scratching Feel Good GIF by 60 Second DocsGiphy"I had a cast and splint on both my legs for 2 months. When they cut it off, they scratched my legs for me and the itch was just top notch! Yeah."
Existing-Seat5962
Itching an itch can change a life.
YUM!
Emma Stone High Quality GIFGiphy"When you're starving all day and devour a bomb a** meal."
Lime_Rose
Sleep for Life
"When you’ve been up for 20 hours+ and finally get into bed and you just know it’ll be the best sleep of your life."
Ok_Sprinkles_8777
"But man, after 36+ hours, the body sort of aches and it's hard to fall asleep despite being completely exhausted. Then the restless legs kick in... ugh. I do agree that a 20hr-ish stint is amazing to cuddle into, especially if you don't have to get up at any specific time the next day."
curlyfat
"Makes it better when you’ve been sleep deprived for weeks and know you have NO PLANS tomorrow and can sleep as much as you need."
Batcraft10
That Feeling
"When you're absolutely busting for a pee and you can finally go!"
Apprehensive_Pen_793
"Apparently there’s a thing called a 'pee-gasm' that people (usually women) have that causes an orgasmic feeling when you pee after holding it for a while! I’ve definitely experienced this and I’ve intentionally waited a while so I could have that good feeling... lol."
cocoawhirl
I Can Hear!!
"The feeling of water leaving your ear after being there all day."
Apprehensive_Bet_438
"I had some impacted earwax for a week in one ear, and when it finally got removed it was the best feeling in the world. Initially it was like having a tv or radio in my ear that only had static, but then I could hear. Good god, I could hear. It was amazing."
doodwhatsrsly
"Oh man, and it’s WARM from being in your head, and the warmth makes the sensation of leaving even better."
AngiesPhalanges
A Good Rest
dog puppy GIFGiphy"Sleeping in a warm blanket in winters."
Puitzza
"Or sleeping in a cold blanket in summer."
pitypuruty
I am enthralled by all of those things.
Redditor Gold-Ad-2827 asked:
"People with mental disorders: What do you hate being told the most?"
I hated being told to just smile. You smile and go away.
Duh
seth meyers GIF by Late Night with Seth MeyersGiphy"It's all in your head. Where else would it?! My colon?"
glorified_throwaway
Don't Minimize
"Everybody goes through that."
rukasu83
"This saying makes my blood boil. Or the 'I was that age once too ya know' yeah no sh*t you were that age once. And just because you were that age once doesn’t mean we have the same experience."
MasterOfRNoSleep
"They try to minimize it."
Previous_Ad7725
Stellar Advice
"You're worried? Just stop."
"You're sad? Just don't be."
"You're compulsively binge eating? Eat less."
"Thanks for that stellar advice."
CrayolaSocks
"Or even better, 'Just do it!' As if ADHD paralysis can be stopped with a can-do attitude."
HumanityIsACesspool
"physical health"
"I get so frustrated when people treat the idea of 'holistic medicine' as some kind of woo. How does it escape so many people that the body works holistically? Even a lot of doctors seem to ignore this. It's very frustrating when you have 2 or 3 or 4 illnesses that are all affecting each other, and your 'physical health' is held distinct from your mental health, and nothing anyone is doing to treat you works because no one's looking at the whole system."
"I just got a lecture from a psychiatrist I am seeing about nutrition, and he apologized to me for doing so but I told him, 'No, I appreciate it. Do it for all your patients.' because it told me he's trying to look at the whole picture and actually fix what's wrong. It gave me faith in him."
TheLastKirin
Relax
Calm Down Golden Girls GIF by TV LandGiphy"You need to calm down."
sorceress__stoned
"Never is the history of calm down has calm down ever caused anyone to calm down."
LBIdockrat
Calm down. I hate that one. You calm down.
Tips
Season 23 Reaction GIF by Law & OrderGiphy"When they try to give me tips on what to do, like bruh as if I didn't already try that."
Mediocre_Ad8282
The Standard
"You don't look sad. No crap... that's so I can avoid having this conversation. Also depression isn't 'being sad' like people think."
allgamerprogram
"God, I hate this. It's because saying 'I'm depressed' has been standard for people expressing that they're slightly unhappy about something dumb like not getting enough croutons on their salad or some crap. Now that's just what everyone assumes you mean when you say you have depression."
NilPill
Be Faster
"'Stop being lazy.'"
LadyBirdLadyBirdLady
“'Lazy' is when you don’t want to do anything at all. 'Executive disfunction' is when you can do everything at all, but that one easy quick thing that you do want to do just makes you and your brain freeze completely days ahead. I’m tired of people not understand that even when I explain and look at me like I’m bullshitting instead."
_Varien_
Ways to Cope
"Maybe you should try praying harder. I did, He prescribed medication."
Ms_Schuesher
"Praying is a way to cope for a lot of people, I think. That's totally fine, but insisting on praying in lieu of getting real help or actually addressing the issue is when it is not only unhelpful, but dangerously detrimental."
TheFrustrated
"Religious people will bypass everyone’s cultures, identity, views, and feelings just to be right and make a point. it’s disgusting. I read somewhere that real so called Christianity is all wrong. The real faith is from the Aramaic history and all the meanings were misinterpreted and the stories and all were made up by Catholics wanting to control their people. Yuck."
RisingPhoenix5271
'contamination'
Disgusted Season 6 GIF by Brooklyn Nine-NineGiphy"As someone with OCD with a lot of attention to 'contamination', having someone try to explain contradictions in why I'm doing something that is technically unclean when I wouldn't do something that is technically clean due to OCD. There are a few doorknobs that I will not touch no matter how much you clean them in front of me and I know it makes no sense, if it made sense I wouldn't have OCD i'd just be cleanly."
Zoooples
Stop trying to be an armchair therapist. Be empathetic to people first.