Mattea Roach still travels around Toronto on the subway. In a city where demolished bungalows are put up for sale for $1 million, MX. Using the pronoun they/them, Roach still shares an apartment with his siblings despite having enough money to buy one.
For MX The youngest Jeopardy Super Champion in history, Roach, 24,’s $560,983 total prize pool did little to change their routines. They didn’t buy a car or splurge, but they just wore new clothes and went to the record store a few times.
Whether it’s winning a game show, inheriting an inheritance, or settling a lawsuit, it’s guaranteed, despite the common illusion that sudden financial fortunes will radically change a young person’s life. Do not mean. Of course, some people are able to buy a home and adventure around the world while they are young. But for those who received money after the death of a loved one, or who are learning to manage large sums of money for the first time, the unexpected can be overwhelming.
MX Raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Roach planned to attend law school, but so far he’s been doing public speaking and podcasting. “Schools aren’t going anywhere, and other things aren’t going to be around forever,” they said. “I used to have a pretty good idea of what I was going to do with my life.”
Now, perhaps surprisingly, Mx. Roach is less lucid than before the win. “There is uncertainty and anxiety,” they said. “I have more than ever before.”
For MX, according to Roach, “crisis” money can provide a kind of security, a cushion to make new, different and perhaps more interesting choices in life. It provides the knowledge that
“I feel exactly the same as before,” they said. “I always feel guilty about spending money.” It’s a welcome safety net in case you do. MX Roach’s father died suddenly while on the show.
“I don’t know yet what my lifestyle will be,” they said.
For Alexandra Merlo Stefgen, a 25-year-old author from Fort Collins, Colorado, a $10,000 scholarship changed her life forever. She was a scholarship student in her last two years at the prestigious Phillips Exeter Academy, and her classmates were so wealthy that they flew to Europe on weekend flights, and the campus buildings were named after her family. there was.
“I often couldn’t keep up with my friends who were receiving scholarships,” said Merlo Stefgen. “I was working minimum wage two days a week at the library.”
Seeing her seniors worrying about which university to go to, she knew it wasn’t the path she wanted. Instead, she applied for two of her fellowships. Each fellowship gave Gap the financial freedom to get her year and travel. At 18, she won her $10,000 worth of Phillips her Exeter Academy Fellowship, which made just that possible.
“It was very exciting,” said Merlo Stefgen. “The amount of money was incomprehensible to me at the time. It felt really special.” She volunteered in Naples, Italy. She hiked the Camino de Compostela in Spain. She spent time in Berlin, Ireland and Florence, Italy. Then she went to Buddhist practice. She spent her last funds on a trip to Cambodia.
“I used to spend money just to enjoy myself. I won’t do that anymore,” she said. “I am enjoying myself more than ever. It was the greatest gift.”
Is it ironic to get windfall in your 20s and 30s? It can bring a newfound freedom, but especially if your co-workers are still early in their careers, have student loans and simply can’t empathize with the sudden challenges of managing five or six figures. , can be disorienting.
Seattle tech worker Nicholas Frieda was 26 when he received a $100,000 inheritance from his grandmother. This gift brought grief, as his father had already passed away and the money was to go directly to him.
“I’ve heard old movies talk about inheritance,” Frida says. “That’s what other people have done.” When told he could expect to be paid, “I didn’t think it was a lot,” he said.
Frida said she initially felt uncomfortable with the inheritance. Ultimately, he decided that the money should be spent on buying a home rather than an unnecessary splurge, so he asked for advice. Around him were older, much higher-paid workers in the industry who owned multi-million dollar homes.
Frida said the difference in purchasing power was “difficult to discuss because we weren’t really using the same units of measurement.”
But it was also a strange feeling, he says, to be able to “talk to people five, 10, 15 years down the road” in his career. Two years after receiving the money, Frida spent two-thirds of her estate to buy her house, where she now lives with her fiancée.
Gina Knox, 30, a financial coach in San Antonio, received two windfalls at a young age. She’s $15,000 at 22 and $100,000 at 28. The first was my parents’ money left in my college account after graduation, which was a shock.
With $5,000, Knox traveled South America for a month, riding horses in Argentina, enjoying hot springs in Chile, and crossing the Andes Mountains by bus. “She had a lot of fun,” she said.
But she was at a loss as to what to do with the rest. “She sat there for months, not knowing what to do,” she said. “I was completely terrified that I would ruin it or run out.” She felt awkward and overwhelmed thinking, “This is too much money for me.”
Ms. Knox felt more confident when she received her $100,000 inheritance, thanks to the lessons her father taught her about money management. “I had already saved and invested $100,000 myself, so this wasn’t the first time I’d run six-figure money,” she said.
Ms. Knox now advises others on managing money. “If you don’t know what to do, it’s extremely important not to do anything,” she said. “If you have a lot of money that you are not ready to deal with strategically or emotionally, talk to your family or financial advisor. Spend some time envisioning what you want your life to be.”
Her splurge is driving a Mercedes station wagon, which she enjoys every day.
People from low-income households are even less able to integrate windfall money smoothly into their lives, as managing large sums of money is a new skill that needs to be mastered. Stephen M. Hughes, 36, a financial therapist in Atlanta, is a first-generation American who knows the emotional uplift that a sudden influx of cash can evoke. Fear, shame, and guilt are his three fears that he often encounters with his clients.
“There are many emotions associated with money, and while inheriting an inheritance releases endorphins, it is also possible to feel the survivor’s regret that they have more money than their family and neighbors have ever had. There is,’ he said.
Windfall events can also attract new pleas for help. “You may feel like the family tap right now,” says Hughes.
The first call should be “the person you most admire in how you manage your money,” he says. “Ask who the accountant is.” Second call to Paid Financial Call his planner. “When you have these people on your team, you get ideas from them,” he said.
If family or friends ask for money, Hughes suggests setting yourself some guardrails. “Sometimes our hearts and eyes are bigger than our wallets,” he said. Low-income people and people of color are often already financially supporting both younger and older relatives at the same time, and are sometimes seen as family saviors, or financial support.
“The first thing is to become financially independent,” Mr. Hughes said.
