Interesting Post from GRS: "Mom's a Millionaire"

[Elbata]

Interesting post from Get Rich Slowly.

Thought I'd share this with the ER community:
My mom is a millionaire! ~ Get Rich Slowly

[Palmtree]

That is an interesting post. I've got mixed feelings about it because I'm both happy and sad for her.

[donheff]

Interesting, But what is up with this guy? He has been writing a personal finance blog for 12 years and struggling to help his mom pay for assisted living all that time. Yet he only now discovers that she has social security and IRA's? And, oh, "I forgot about the house and rental income?" You would get rich very SLOWLY following this guy.

[street]

Great story. Health is such a big deal can really have all the money in the world and not be able to enjoy it with bad health.

[karen1972]

Quote:

Originally Posted by donheff Interesting, But what is up with this guy? He has been writing a personal finance blog for 12 years and struggling to help his mom pay for assisted living all that time. Yet he only now discovers that she has social security and IRA's? And, oh, "I forgot about the house and rental income?" You would get rich very SLOWLY following this guy.

That's what I thought. Especially the "Although it hobbled the business, we structured it so that the family box factory channeled some of its profits directly to her care."

So you have SS/IRAs/a home no longer needed worth $414K and you chose to hobble the business as the best option to pay for her care. They mention renting out the home but don't say how much. All seems very strange and clearly, there is more to that story.

I had a similar revelation with my mom being a millionaire but I had at least known most of their wealth was tied up in their farmland they lived on and they would likely have to sell at least part of it to fund retirement which is often the case with farmers.

[RunningBum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by donheff Interesting, But what is up with this guy? He has been writing a personal finance blog for 12 years and struggling to help his mom pay for assisted living all that time. Yet he only now discovers that she has social security and IRA's? And, oh, "I forgot about the house and rental income?" You would get rich very SLOWLY following this guy.

And he's still ignoring her 60% share of the box factory, isn't he? Just including the land value? He says the house is part of net worth, so isn't this?

[tinlizzy]

I thought the the same things about this finance blogger or maybe he's intentionally writing down to who he thinks his readers are?

It made me worry for his mom with him in charge.

[REWahoo]

Someone on the blogger's website questioned him about why he had just now figured out his mom had far more financial assets than he thought. His response:

Quote:

Yes, naturally I was aware that Mom’s Social Security payments would start soon. And of course I knew that the land had value. But I had never bothered to think about the implications of all this.

[mystang52]

Quote:

Originally Posted by donheff Interesting, But what is up with this guy? He has been writing a personal finance blog for 12 years and struggling to help his mom pay for assisted living all that time. Yet he only now discovers that she has social security and IRA's? And, oh, "I forgot about the house and rental income?" You would get rich very SLOWLY following this guy.

+1 Either the writer is dense, or this story is apocryphal.

[Bestwifeever]

What got me is that Mom is not yet 70 and incompetent. I should send this article to my kids to show them how lucky they are to have functioning adults (albeit aging) as parents.

[pb4uski]

I think this article just proves that some financial writers like this J.D. Roth are clueless and anything that you see in the mainstream press from financial writers should be taken with a huge grain of salt.

I don't see anything that qualifies this guy to give financial advice to the masses.

Quote:

I was born and raised in Canby, Oregon. As was my father before me. As was his father before him. I attended Canby Union High School before spending four years at college in Salem, where I attended Willamette University. I earned a bachelor of arts in psychology with a minor in English (writing emphasis). I also took a lot of public speaking classes. Naturally, after I graduated I couldn’t find a job. I went to work for my Dad, selling custom boxes for the family business. I hated it. You’ll notice that none of this has anything to do with money. I have no formal training in the world of finance. I’m not an accountant. I’m not a licensed stockbroker. I’m not a certified financial planner. I’m just a regular guy who has learned about money through the school of hard knocks. ....

[growing_older]

Quote:

But I had never bothered to think about the implications of all this.

So any advice he gives may be ill informed because he never bothered to think about some topic or other. Why would anyone care what he suggests about any thing.

[frugalscholar]

Interestingly, this guy started his blog in 2006 or thereabouts and sold it for several million dollars several years later. He recently bought it back. What do you think accounts for the super-success of the blog?

[MikeD]

Quote:

Originally Posted by frugalscholar Interestingly, this guy started his blog in 2006 or thereabouts and sold it for several million dollars several years later. He recently bought it back. What do you think accounts for the super-success of the blog?

I am serious: I don't understand what you are talking about. I think you are hint at something but I don't get it.

Thanks,
Mike D.

[jazz4cash]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeD I am serious: I don't understand what you are talking about. I think you are hint at something but I don't get it. Thanks, Mike D.

I don't get your question. I thought the same as many others wrt the clueless nature of the GRS blog. The bloggers response quoted above fits the "1st Rule of Holes" theory nicely. Frugal Scholar is not being coy and I also wondered what makes a blog with dubious content popular ( and that was before I saw the info about it being not just popular, but very profitable as well).

[harley]

Quote:

Originally Posted by frugalscholar Interestingly, this guy started his blog in 2006 or thereabouts and sold it for several million dollars several years later. He recently bought it back. What do you think accounts for the super-success of the blog?

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeD I am serious: I don't understand what you are talking about. I think you are hint at something but I don't get it.

I don't think he's hinting at anything. I think he's seriously asking why a blog by a unqualified guy who doesn't seem to do a very good job at what he's blogging about has become so financially valuable. Why do enough people pay any attention to him to make the blog a money maker?

[ChiliPepr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by harley I don't think he's hinting at anything. I think he's seriously asking why a blog by a unqualified guy who doesn't seem to do a very good job at what he's blogging about has become so financially valuable. Why do enough people pay any attention to him to make the blog a money maker?

Because someone posts it on a site like this and many, many people go to the site increasing hit rates and that site's value...

[jazz4cash]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChiliPepr Because someone posts it on a site like this and many, many people go to the site increasing hit rates and that site's value...