Did you have some form of windfall that significantly contributed to Networth?

[chinaco]

Most of our networth has come from wages via work that was invested. We did inherit a small windfall that was stashed away several years agos. It has grown. It represents about 18% of the total portfolio.

I was wondering how many people recieved some sort of windfal that contributed to the bottom line. This could be inheritance, money gifts from family, Stock Options at work... almost anything (other than normal wage/bonus) that contributed a large lump sum to your networth (and perhaps was invested and grw further).

 

[REWahoo]

Re: Did you have some form of windfall that significantly contributed to Networt

I received a small windfall in the form of stock options that miraculously paid off after being underwater for many years. This occurred due to the sale of the company just as I hit my FI target and bumped our net worth up by an additional 8%.

While it was a very nice surprise and icing on our FI cake, it did not alter my chosen FIRE date in any way. I'd already hit our FIRE target and placed a stake in the ground to retire in May of 2005. I viewed the surprise stock option payout as a well-timed and very much appreciated parting gift.

 

[HFWR]

No...

 

[73ss454]

ditto...

 

[happy2bretired]

My husband and I were already FI and getting ready to retire when he died. He left me with some survivor's benefits and a 200K life insurance policy as well.

 

[W2R]

No inheritance yet, and I don't count on possible future inheritance in my ER computations.

My net worth on retirement will be less than a million, which is small for this group of people. I'll RE anyway, in three years or so. I'd rather live frugally on my own terms, than to live well as a wage slave. If I inherit, I doubt much will change.

 

[brewer12345]

Sort of. I got most of my MBA paid for by employers of either myself or my wife. But then again, I spent several years making less money in order to keep that benefit. So maybe not.

 

[Dawg52]

Re: Did you have some form of windfall that significantly contributed to Networt

None yet. I just retired and I didn't base my retirement on a future inheritance. When it does happen, it really won't change much for me.

 

[Goonie]

Re: Did you have some form of windfall that significantly contributed to Networt

The only 'wind fall' that I ever got, was an inheritance from one of my great-uncles, back in the early '70s. He had made his fortune in the oil business. He became a multi-millionaire at a fairly early age, and ER'd in his 40's back to the Ozarks. He and my aunt had decided that if or when they got rich, they would return to the 'hills' and blow their entire fortune by living the way they wanted to. They had no "young'uns", so they gave money to some of our other relatives when ever it was needed.

They managed to squander away just about every red cent they ever had before they passed away. To which I say "Good for them!!!"

Anyway, when the estate was settled....assets sold and bills paid.....the remainder of their estate was split equally between their 4 nieces and nephews (of which I was one). I received a WHOPPING $900!!! WHOO-HOO!!

He succeeded in doing that without ever reading the book "Die Broke"

But any other 'wind falls'? Nope! All I have, I've earned myself! It's a family tradition.

 

[grumpy]

Re: Did you have some form of windfall that significantly contributed to Networt

I inherited my mother's variable annuity in 1999. At the time it was worth $71K. I decided to leave it in the annuity to continue the tax deferred growth. The major upfront costs & surrender charges had passed but selling would trigger a large tax bill. I have shifted the $'s to different funds weighted toward international funds. The annuity is currently worth $130K. This represents only about 10% of my investable assets so it was not a major windfall.

Grumpy

 

[audreyh1]

Yep. 90% or so of our net worth was from stock options which paid off after a very long time period. The company finally went public. When we exercised our options we really had no idea whether they would come to anything at all. Nothing better than being in the right place at the right time plus a boatload of good luck!

Audrey

 

[maddythebeagle]

No....I know of one guy that got some kind of trust and blew through it in a couple of years so I think it can be like the lottery winners....something about building your own wealth that makes you work harder to keep it...

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

The collective wisdom is to never count on inheritance windfalls until the check has cleared. I have distant relatives who were counting on Mom's millions upon her death, having been told this was the plan and having seen the will.

Family strife, perhaps a bit of manipulation by a sibling, generation skipping provisions and a few other circumstances pared that puppy down to the point that the relatives ended up with nothing more than a nice car. The heirs don't talk to each other, and lawyers are involved.

Plan A was to retire at 57. They are now 61 and still working. Reminds me of the old Smith Barney ads -- something like (in a stuffy British accent), "We make money the old-fashioned way. We earn it."

 

[HFWR]

Reminds me of the old Smith Barney ads -- something like (in a stuffy British accent), "We make money the old-fashioned way. We earn it."

Yup!

 

[Sue J]

Re: Did you have some form of windfall that significantly contributed to Networt

Not really a "windfall" but still a nice surprise......

A few years ago my husband's employer offered to buy out employees excess sick time. They get plenty of sick time per year and he never used much of his. The deal is that they will give you half your normal pay rate for hours that you cash in. He's cashed in over 800 hours since they started this. He spread it out over a few years so that we stayed in the same tax bracket.

 

[Goonie]

Re: Did you have some form of windfall that significantly contributed to Networt

Not really a "windfall" but still a nice surprise......

A few years ago my husband's employer offered to buy out employees excess sick time. They get plenty of sick time per year and he never used much of his. The deal is that they will give you half your normal pay rate for hours that you cash in. He's cashed in over 800 hours since they started this. He spread it out over a few years so that we stayed in the same tax bracket.

Like you say not really a 'windfall' but.......Although in my case it wasn't a surprise, since it was in my contract. They paid me for unused sick time, comp-time, personal days, and vacation days....a total of 618.81 hours at normal hourly wage. So my last pay check was that plus the 40 hours I had screwed around w*rked the last week.....about $14K.....sweet!!!

Also, 84 days of 'banked' sick time went toward my years of service with the pension fund. I get 1 additional month of service credit for each 20 days of sick time....so I get an additional 5 months of service credit which boosts my pension check about $60/month. ( I had a total of 129 sick days 'banked', but they have a 45 day cap for pay, then the days over that cap go toward pension)

All-in-all....very sweet!

 

[Mwsinron]

Re: Did you have some form of windfall that significantly contributed to Networt

No but Im counting on winning the lottery!

 

[kcowan]

Yes we had two lucky strokes. My share of Dad's estate grew to $400k by the time he passed on at 95yo. And we had hoped to win big on private company options but it never materialized so in 2001 after losing lots of equity in the market meltdown, we invested in 10 small cap companies. One of those was purchased at $.88 and is currently trading for about $30. We still have half of our original number of shares. Most of the others we sold at a loss or modest gain.

We continue to do this investing with about 5% of our portfolio and have had some other winners (e.g. 10x) but nothing as dramatic as this one. Ironically we are becoming more conservative now that we no longer need the big hits. But we are kicking around the idea of creating a charitable trust if we can repeat the process often enough to create a substantial buffer.

 

[Bikerdude]

Re: Did you have some form of windfall that significantly contributed to Networt

I got a sizable inheritance, however it only replaced what I lost in a divorce.

 

[Donzo]

I have had no windfalls...yet. I do stand to recieve quite abit when my Mom passes - but I am not counting on it/will be fine w/o it. If it happens I will just travel more and invite/pay for the kids w/ their families along (assuming they have em) - that would be great and is what money is for...in my opionion.
Freedom AND the pursuit of happiness!

 

[Tracy42]

Stock options over the last 2-3 years have contributed about 200K after taxes. Definitely has helped push us up to our goal.

 

[sgeeeee]

Nope. And unless I start playing the lottery, I don't expect one.

 

[d]

none here

 

[wabmester]

What exactly is a windfall? Is getting an absurdly high salary a windfall? How about selling your company for more than you thought it was worth? How about falling into a high-compensation profession because you thought it was fun?

I'm pretty sure I've had some windfalls, but I'll take whatever I can get.

 

[dmpi]

My parents let me live rent free for a few years after I got out of school.