I moved back in with my parents at 35 a couple years ago after personal financial ruin.
CW: Suicide
I was so depressed at the time that I told them they should let me die because I didn't want to be a financial burden on them.
That's how seriously money was weighing on my mind at the time.
All I knew about my parents finances before yesterday was that they had multiple high-interest credit cards nearly maxed out. I knew this because my mom has shared the account login credentials with me.
All I could think about was getting a job ASAP to help the family stay of the streets, but I was too depressed to function.
Yesterday after a long conversation, my mom shows me her Merrill Lynch account on her iPad. It has a balance of over $128k. All stocks.
My mom has been squirreling every dollar she can into it for the past thirty years.
I clicked "max" on the balance history. The balance used to be over $600k but she makes a lot of trades.
I'm going through a lot of emotions rn.
That really sucks and it's shameful they chose to not help you.
maxed out CCs and a brokerage account with 128k? if theyre not paying the CCs off every month, are they stupid? she is 100% gambling if the balance has declined to almost 1/5 of the max (depending on when that was)
This is more about self-preservation than anything else bc if theyre doing poorly and you depend on their home then you're at risk and not just them. Unless the brokerage acct is play money and they have other savings or the house is paid off, etc
There's no reason to think they're being truthful and forthright about their finances now. They probably pulled a bunch out to put in something more stable, or just spent it.