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
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Maybe 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
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"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/
When we're intoxicated, or even the slightest bit tipsy from having a little too much to drink, our immediate perspective on things is hazy.
But there's nothing like a bit of alarming news or a jarring incident to snap us out of the fog and focus on the moment.
Sometimes alcohol isn't always to blame for our impairment.
It can be a state of mind, like a perpetual numbness from being complacent in life, and all it takes is one shocking moment to rattle us back to our senses.
Curious to hear from strangers online about this type of scenario, Redditor Known_Challenge_7150 asked:
"What’s one thing that sobered you up real quick?"
These individuals were witness to shocking events that sobered them up right quick.
Bleeding Out
"Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door."
"Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there."
– DongLaiCha
Tragic News
"At a bachelor party and we got a phone call that the groom’s father had suddenly passed."
– accountnameredacted
Bottom Of The Barrel
"I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time. I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober."
– Crotch-Monster
A reality check can be enough for some people to snap out of it.
Like Father, Like Son
"Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said 'your as drunk as your father' and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking."
– psycospaz
Busted
"Flashing blue lights."
– FiddleOfGold
"This sobered me up just thinking about it."
– redmaple_syrup
Losing Sight
"Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously."
– MissHibernia
Quitting The Bottle
"Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since."
– omgtater
These disturbing moments were enough for Redditors to immediately come to their senses.
Unplanned House Guests
"Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye."
– Oneinsevenbillion75
Serious Health Warning
"Elevated liver enzymes."
"And the knowledge that this sh** was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it."
"So I opted for recovery, instead."
"Clean and sober since June 5, 2009."
– Far_Meal8674
The Joyride
"Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely sh*tfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived."
– foxfood9116
The human psyche is a fascinating thing, isn't it?
How we can automatically focus on something urgent at a crucial time, even after getting buzzed from drinking too much alcohol.
But as we're in the thick of the holidays, it's a good reminder to drink responsibly and stay off the roads if you drive to your celebratory destination.
Cheers. Stay safe. And happy holidays.
We've all complained or vented about something in our lives which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't exactly a problem, or is very easily solved.
Then there are those who complain about things that others almost hope will happen to them at some point in their lives.
These are known as "first world problems", as they are problems that pretty much only the world's one percent faces.
From having to fly business class instead of first class, or being served Roederer instead of Dom Pérignon, these complaints are often met with amusement, bewilderment, or even anger.
Redditor jennimackenzie was curious to hear the most absurd "first world problems" anyone ever complained about, leading them to ask:
"What’s the most ridiculous 'first world problem' you’ve seen people get worked up over?"
"Tale As Old As Time..."
"I once knew a mom who was legitimately devastated, to the point of tears/grief, because a doctor predicted her 8 year old daughter's final height to be around 5'2","
"Which wasn't tall enough to get cast as Belle at Disney World."
"That was the child's (and her mother's) only dream in life, apparently."
"Didn't appreciate my suggestion that she could be Minnie or Mickey."
"Lol!"
"Only a face character would do!"- TravelLovingMom
"Must Be Funny, In A Rich Man's World..."
"My boss from about a decade ago was this insanely rich dude who always went to the bank to get fresh and crisp currency."
"He'd call the bank in advance to make sure they had some on hand."
"I think he was a germaphobe."
"He had a trash can that he'd throw $1 and $5 bills in that he thought was 'dirty' and regularly just donated it vs spending it."
"I asked him why he did this and he said it was too much trouble and asked if I wanted it."
"I said f*ck yeah dumped it into my bag and when I got home it was close to $400 in singles and fives.
"Another time, he wanted to upgrade all the computers in his studio, so we went to a store and bought 10 PCs."
"They all had $150 mail in rebates and he wasn't bothered to go through the trouble of mailing them in."
"3 weeks later I received $1500 after spending a whole afternoon filling out all those goddamn forms."- azninvasion2000
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Who Wore It Better?
"When I was about 19 years old, I was at my boyfriends family BBQ."
"I was wearing this pretty floral sundress."
"His cousins girlfriend showed up in the same dress and she was SO mad that she went and changed."
"I will never understand being upset when someone is wearing the same thing as you.'
"Did you really think that your shirt you bought off the rack is going to be unique to you?"
"No."- mertsey627
Seeing Red! Or Blue In This Case...
"The blue of the balloons wasn't quite the same as the bridesmaid's sashes."
"Years ago my wife and I attended a wedding."
"It was very low key."
"The dinner was in the dining hall at the university where the couple met, cinder block walls and all."
"It was a Baptist wedding - no booze and very serious."
"The dark blue balloons attempting to liven up the hall were a slightly darker shade of blue than the sashes on the bridesmaid's dresses."
"The bride lost here sh*t and absolutely raved for nearly an hour."
"I can't remember how they finally managed to talk her down."- mechant_papa
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See You In Court!
"Rich neighbors who end up in expensive court battles because they disagree about where a tree can be planted or whether the color of a fence fits in with the street’s 'amenity'."
'These disputes get really heated and rack up huge lawyers’ bills."
"The most pathetic part is after the judgement when they are arguing about who should pay the other party’s costs."
"Lots of affidavits filed citing the 'emotional distress' they had to endure, or painting themselves as brave warriors who were forced to take a stand to fight for 'justice'."
"Also lots of pompous litigants insisting that the judge refer to them by their 'Dr' title."
"An absolutely insane dumpster fire of entitled rich people problems."- ElectrocRaisin
It's Always People With Money Who Don't Want To Pay!
"I work in a public library."
"People will get so so mad if they have to be put on a wait list for a book."
"A popular book that just came out."
"Ok our services are not only free but so are the books."
"You’re welcome, a**holes."- Switchbladekitten
A Warm Butt Is A Happy Butt!
"My own."
"We have a bidet toilet seat (Fabulous! Everyone should have one!) and not only does it wash your bum and blow dry it, but the seat's heated!"
"It's shocking how much a heated toilet seat makes the whole process more agreeable."
"Except: We had a power outage and I went to use the toilet and the seat was cold!"
"Unacceptable!"
"This shall not stand!"
"I was really upset because it didn't feel good."
"Then I stopped and thought: This is the most first-world problem anyone's ever had."
"I was really pissed because my heiny was tepid."
"I got over it."- DeathGrover
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Holy Matrimony!
"Weddings are a gold mine for this question."
"People get so hyped up over their 'most important day of their life'."
"They'll destroy friendships, go into debt, and have crazy expectations."
"It's not always the couple who go crazy, either."
"Sometimes, it's the parents or another family member who feels entitled to control the wedding."
"It's just a party."
"Be considerate of guests, have plenty of food and drinks, and enjoy it."- magicrowantree
When Fast Food Isn't Fast Enough...
"Having to pull off to the side to wait for a drive-thru order to be brought out to you because your food isn't ready and there's a line building up behind you."- demanbmore
In Case You Don't Think Customer Service Employees Are Undervalued...
"I was working the return desk at a Target next to a military base so I have so many stories."
"One of my favorites was a lady who had her baby shower before revealing the gender and was livid that she had received floral newborn diapers when she’s having a boy."
"It was a huge box of super expensive, all organic diapers, that we didn’t carry and therefore could not return."
"I cannot accurately express her fury and disgust."
"How dare either suggest her boy could wear feminine diapers."
"I suggested she donate them if she didn’t want to use them and she instead threw away the entire box."
"When she left we pulled it out and threw it in our donate bin."
"There have also been multiple times where mom’s order massive toys and when we bring them out to the car they get furious that they aren’t wrapped."
"We don’t offer wrapping services."
"Here’s the thing, if you don’t want your kids to see the toys you got them for Christmas or their bit to day DON'T BRING THE CHILD WHEN YOU PICK IT UP."
'I’ve had multiple women scream and curse me out that I had ruined their kids Christmas by bringing the toys they ordered out to the car like they requested."- clever-mermaid-mae
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Happiest Place On Earth!
"I used to work for Disney."
"That in itself should tell you everything."
"However for fun I'll give you two specific stories one form our tech department and one from my wife who worked bookings."
"I specifically worked for their call center to help with technical issues with magic band and the website."
"Suddenly got worse huh?"
"A right of passage call everyone has at least one story of is the 'Dome call'."
"Basically there is a subset of Disney Guest (TM) that believes if it rains at Walt Disney world there is someone that will push a button to encapsulate the whole of Disney property in a dome to keep out the rain."
"I'm not kidding."
"If this button is not pushed they call our tech department to angrily ask why."
"My wife worked booking."
"Pretty much everything including Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique and Pirate's league."
"These two things did roughly the same thing difference being price and theme."
"BBB was expensive did more and was focused on princesses, pirates league did a bit less and focused on mermaids and pirates."
"Lady called up my wife, and got pissed about BBB being booked up (It goes FAAAAST)."
"Karen: 'Im going to give the phone to my daughter and I want you to tell her how you are ruining her vacation by not letting her do BBB'."
"Wife proceeds to explain how pirate's league is so much cooler and how she can be a mermaid or pirate and basically gets the kid to start demanding to their parents about how they want to be a mermaid instead of a princess."- trollsong
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The horror!
Being booked into a junior suite at Disney World instead of an executive suite!
It's almost as bad as having no money for groceries, or no food to feed you children...
Said absolutely no one.