OK, don't hate me for this, guys
Here's my story.
I started working at 14. My parents had lots of issues, and my siblings wanted to go to college, so by age 18 I was working three crap jobs trying to pay our bills and help my siblings get through school. I became a master of living on practically nothing.
In my late twenties, I was ina freak traffic accident and severely injured. The next few years of recovery kind of sucked, nobody wanted to hire a cripple, and I knew poverty like I had never known before and awful chronic pain and depression.
Then, out of the blue, I was contacted by a family member who managed an estate and found out that our family had inherited a small fortune.
My parents and siblings get a payout every year, as do I. It isn't huge - just above what most would consider poverty-level income, but it was an awesome godsend for me.
I used the money to get myself a little house with a cheap mortgage, pay for physical therapy and counseling, and get my life together.
Things are damn good. I stopped caring about working and instead I started doing what I loved, making art and selling vegetables and flowers at farmer's markets. I make enough money from this and selling my art to live very comfortably. I even paid off my brothers' student loans.
The problem is, my parents are freaking out because I won't hold a job. They have always worked at least 40 hours a week, but they suck at managing money and are perpetually broke, even with the inheritance. They don't understand how I can live on a pensioner income and have no bigger aspirations. I don't understand how they can want me to go back to working overtime every week at a soul-crushing minimum wage job.
Anyway. This week they have an intervention planned, where their pastor and my aunts and uncles are getting together to tell me I have to decide on a career and they are super worried that I am a dirty hippy with no job.
What the fuck do I tell them, anon?
>>17265692
Lay out what you exactly said here. Your family has no right to meddle in how you choose to live your life. You seem to be making positive choices.
They're up their own asses. You're doing the best you can and in fact are doing so much better than some. You are living by doing what you enjoy, that's amazing i'm honestly really happy for you.
Maybe they're just worried that when/if the payout money stops coming you'll be suddenly in financial trouble so they want to help but maybe not I don't know those details. All in all you're fine, it's not like you're living off welfare and intentionally doing nothing.
I want to live like you one day.
>>17265726
Side note. Is your payout in any way shape or form controlled by any of these people?
>>17265752
Extra side note. Perhaps a concession of sorts would appease the bothersome rabble. Agree to look for jobs after you've completed some various technical certifications. While I don't know your family, it never hurts to have a form of credentialed transferable skillset to put on a resume. Medical biller or coder, Microsoft certifications, compTIA certs. Shit you can do at home and not be bothered about which you could then freelance from home with
OP here
>>17265752
It is not controlled by my parents, but by a third party, a relative we are not close to. She manages it well and seems to make solid and thoughtful investments.
>>17265764
Thank you for the suggestions. I've thought about going to school, but feel a bit overwhelmed by the choices, the cost, trying to find a field I would enjoy. A technical certification sounds like a much better option at this point. I will look into the ones you mentioned.
Thanks, anons.
OP how did you receive a portion of this? If it was from a far family member.
>>17265795
Np. Medical billing and coding can be learned without upfront cost. Same with Ms certs and comptia. Cost occurs when you pay to take the actual exam. So just pirate the training documents and get involved with a few communities.
On top of that, look at learning scrum or agile project management. Again, info can be piratred. Exams cost money.
Lastly, and this is just advice on a lark, try something diffrrent. It may be the trendy thing to do, but given your unique circumstances, try making a youtube channel and earn some internet sheckles. This would require some planning and you'd learn social media management and some minor video editing skills to boot
>>17265808
Side note again: OP, do you live in the states or over in the eu?
>>17265802
When I say "my parents", I am referring to my dad and stepmom.
My biological mom, my dad's first wife, is deceased. I knew her family had some property/money at one point, but didn't think they still had it by the time I came along.
Apparently she put all her finances in the care of one of my dad's cousins who worked in banking was hella good with that kind of stuff. This cousin was a friend of my mom and my mom helped her out a lot.
So really, it it money my mom would have inherited (if she was not dead) that instead goes to my dad, brothers, and I.
does that make sense?
>>17265834
I live in the states.
Here's the thing - do you personally have a financial plan? It's all well and good that you have more than enough to live on... But that's for now. Anything can happen to the inheritance, and if it gets cut off you end up being royally fucked. Now, I'm not saying that you should kill yourself working overtime, but you should still work on building up at least:
1. A safety net nest egg in case something happens (medical emergency, the fund dries up, whatever)
2. A retirement plan. Something that will support you in old age even if the inheritance is gone
3. A means to support yourself right now, enough so that even without the inheritance you will be ok.
If you present this to them they will likely back off a bit.
>>17265795
It'd probably be a good idea to get some form of regular employment to secure a steady income. Doing things that you want to do and that you enjoy is important though, so perhaps a part time job that you could work without affecting your market stall too much?
It's worth being mindful of the fact that you might live for longer than the pension pot does. I completley understand that putting a few hundred away at the end of each month probably doesn't feel like a priority for you at the moment, but it'll be significantly easier to do the work now whilst you're in your 20's than it would be to land a job that pays enough to support yourself when you're 76 years old.
>>17265849
Since your live state side, for medical coding, find training texts that focus on the icd10 and cpt codes. Youll learn a bit of anatomy and medical terminology along the way.
Medical billing and chart review for freelance coders and billers can be a nice Lil financial windfall during open enrollment and then in the fall when kids go back to school.
The comptia certs can cover a+, networking, security, server management, database management, etc etc. Nothing wrong with gradually building an arsenal of always-needed skills
Project management certs could be turned, in time, into experiance that would make for good fodder if you ever wanted to do freelance consulting.
>>17265895
These are all good points. I do worry a lot about what I would fall back on - and I would like to have a regular income. I try to save whenever possible, but I know it won't cover retirement/end of life costs.
These are problems to solve, but I guess I don't feel the urgency that my parents do. So much of my adult life was spent worrying about these things, waiting for the next disaster to happen.
I finally hit a point where I decided that worrying wasn't going to help me find a solution any faster, so I stopped sending out tons of resumes and signing on to wash dishes somewhere, just to have steady work.
Some days I don't know if my parents are worried about my security, or just embarrassed because I don't have a career, or worried that their children won't be their safety net. I'm not sure of their real motivations because they have trouble voicing their feelings about it.
It is just 'You need to do this...you NEED to find a steady job. The alternative is unthinkable"
There is a lot of pride, in them. They don't admit to anyone that they receive financial help. Maybe they are embarrassed that I do. It is hard to say.
>>17265930
>>17265916
>>17265895
Thank you, anons. This is really encouraging and helpful.
>>17265692
Op, a question , and I hope it's not too invasive. What happened that made you "cripple"? And what kind of injury did you sustain? Are you able to drive a car? Do you own a car?
>>17265692
Even if you don't need the cash now, that's just the more reason to get a job you enjoy and that brings overhead cash. You can invest that, save it for a rainy day or anything. Think ahead, you seem to be better at it than your family. One day, the inheritance will run out. And if you see that day, you'll have some extreme falling down to do.
Do something you like, if you like literature, try writing a book, but also try getting a non-low-paid job. Just ask around. You are currently in a position where you can say Fuck you to any potential employer, so you can pick and choose. Only people who are desperate go with the first option they get their hands on. You can go on without them, try doing some freelance work, from home.
>>17265980
Nah, it's fine. Got caught in a snowstorm on the highway, the roads iced up. I narrowly avoided a pileup and swerved off to the shoulder of the road and came to a stop. The semi behind me wasn't able to stop. It landed on my car.
Hardware holds my pelvis together. I can walk pretty well now, but limp and drag my left foot a little. I have only partial use of my left arm and shoulder, and partial blindness in one eye. I was unconscious for a long time, and had some traumatic brain injury, but thankfully not many lasting effects from that. I get vertigo, but I have all my mental faculties. There is a lot of scarring.
I can still drive, although I usually prefer not to, due to the vertigo/motion sickness.
Luckily, I live in an area where I can get around pretty well without a vehicle. I share a car with my brother, who lives nearby. If I am going to a market, making a delivery, or going to an appointment, we work out a rideshare system.
>>17265846
Ohh I see, makes sense. How big was this small fortune? Few million?
