Have you ever dreamed about becoming wealthy from one day to the next? This is what happened to the protagonist of today’s story. In 2021, a woman from Texas named Sarah Faith Jacobsen received an inheritance of $250,000 from her grandmother. Who wouldn’t like to have a wealth like this? For most of us, this would mean the solution to many problems, but for Sarah it wasn’t. So, let’s find out more about this story about money and how to handle it.
The beginning
Sarah was 40 years old and working as a lactation consultant in Colorado. Her salary wasn’t very good, and sometimes she needed her family’s help to pay rent. What she didn’t expect was the sudden change in her life when she received her grandmother’s inheritance:
$175,000 from a life insurance policy, deposited straight into her account.
$75,000 more from the will, given in smaller parts.
I mean, who wouldn’t have gone crazy with that much money? Even more so if you are in a situation dealing with economic struggles.
The mistake with wealth
At first, Sarah tried to do the right thing. So, she decided to hire a financial adviser to help her make a plan for the money. But soon she stopped meeting with her. Later, Sarah admitted that she had “limiting beliefs” about money, which pushed her to make poor choices.
She described herself as a “champagne taste on a beer budget” type of person. Basically, she was one of those people who bought expensive things when they couldn’t afford it. So, instead of protecting her new wealth, she began to spend it quickly.
Why did this happen?
Sarah explained that she had never received real financial education. As a child, she got everything she wanted, so as an adult she didn’t know how to manage wealth when it suddenly arrived.
She also admitted that, at first, having the money felt like a relief. But soon, negative feelings of fear and not feeling “good enough” took over. Those emotions made her waste her wealth instead of protecting it.
Spending the inheritance
Sarah decided to spend most of the inheritance on a road trip to explore places where she thought she might want to move. What’s more, she bought expensive jewelry, health equipment, and went to many fancy dinners. Wait! That’s not all, she quit her job, which only made her wealth disappear even faster.
But, something changed
About a year later, when the money was almost gone, Sarah went back to her financial adviser. Even though most of the inheritance had been spent, the adviser was kind and understanding and she helped Sarah take new steps forward. This was the moment when Sarah started to:
Think about new career options.
Work on healing her relationship with money.
Improve her financial knowledge.
Now Sarah rents an apartment, works multiple jobs, and is looking toward a future where she can save and invest again to rebuild her wealth.
A lesson for everyone
I’m sure many of us don’t have a financial education to handle inheritances, but here’s some tips for you (who knows when it will be your turn to receive a wealth?):
Make a financial plan with clear goals.
Use some of the money to pay off important debts.
Save for big dreams like a house, education, or retirement.
And if you’re already stable, invest to make your wealth grow.
Sometimes, huge amounts of money can blind us and we go by what we feel at that moment and we tend to spend a lot. So, if you are expecting an inherence, prepare yourself if you don’t want to experience the same situation as Sarah did.