{"id":227559,"date":"2025-06-30T21:06:11","date_gmt":"2025-06-30T21:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/227559\/"},"modified":"2025-06-30T21:06:11","modified_gmt":"2025-06-30T21:06:11","slug":"i-dont-make-a-lot-of-money-and-im-about-to-inherit-a-big-sum-im-tempted-to-spend-it-on-something-irresponsible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/227559\/","title":{"rendered":"I don’t make a lot of money, and I’m about to inherit a big sum. I’m tempted to spend it on something irresponsible."},"content":{"rendered":"

Pay Dirt is Slate\u2019s money advice column. Have a question? <\/strong>Send it to Kristin and Ilyce here<\/strong><\/a>. (It\u2019s anonymous!)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dear Pay Dirt,\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m in my mid-20s with a rewarding (but not lucrative) career in a high cost-of-living area. I love my career, but it\u2019s unlikely I\u2019ll ever be making even close to six figures doing it. And yet I\u2019m about to inherit some money, and I can\u2019t believe what I want to spend it on.<\/p>\n

There is a surgery I would like to get for both medical and cosmetic reasons: a breast reduction. My primary care doctor agrees it would be beneficial, but convincing insurance is another matter. There are many, many hoops to jump through before insurance would consider it\u2014weight loss, physical therapy, etc.\u2014and even once I\u2019ve done all of that, there\u2019s no guarantee they\u2019d approve it. My best friend suggested that I should consider simply biting the bullet and paying for it out of pocket. It would be about $10,000.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n <\/p>\n

    My Best Friend Claims I Don\u2019t \u201cUnderstand the World\u201d Because I Don\u2019t Have Kids. But I Can\u2019t.
    \n <\/a>\n <\/li>\n

  2. \n <\/p>\n

    My Husband Refused to Throw Out His Old \u201cCollectibles.\u201d Now Our Son Is Paying the Price.
    \n <\/a>\n <\/li>\n

  3. \n
    \n This Content is Available for Slate Plus members only<\/p>\n

    My Kids Made a Scary Mistake on a Trip. I\u2019m Not Sure How to Handle the Fallout.
    \n <\/a>\n <\/li>\n

  4. \n <\/p>\n

    Help! I Can Afford My Best Friend\u2019s Destination Wedding. But There\u2019s Another Reason I Really Don\u2019t Want to Be There.
    \n <\/a>\n <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I\u2019m about to inherit about $70,000 from family. But it\u2019s hard to stomach doing anything but saving that money. I was lucky enough to graduate from college without debt. And once I started working, I was able to live with my parents for a few years and able to save up about $30,000. Since moving out, I\u2019ve saved about another $10,000. I know, logically, that that puts me in a better position than most, but I can\u2019t shake the instinct to save as much as possible. Usually, that is my general policy. But ever since my friend suggested it, I have been tempted to spend some of it on the surgery.<\/p>\n

    I\u2019ve never spent $10,000 in one go on anything except my car. It feels short-sighted and possibly selfish to blow that much money all at once, especially on something that isn\u2019t an \u201casset\u201d\u2014even though I know it will almost certainly improve my quality of life. Reliable sources\u2014the best friends, family, and therapist\u2014have told me I\u2019m an anxious person, so I need a reality check on this. Do you think it\u2019s OK to use the money on this?<\/p>\n

    \u2014My Cups Spilleth Over<\/p>\n

    Dear Cups,<\/strong><\/p>\n

    This is an easy yes. You\u2019ll have very few opportunities to invest $10,000 in something that will pay off for the rest of your life. And, that\u2019s what I consider this to be: An investment in yourself. Best of all, you can pay for it yourself.<\/p>\n

    While you don\u2019t think your choice of profession will give you the opportunity to buy a home and live a nice lifestyle, I\u2019d argue that you don\u2019t know what the next decade will bring. But this is one thing you can do to have a positive effect on your life. Use your money on the surgery.<\/p>\n

    \u2014Ilyce<\/p>\n

    More Money Advice From Slate<\/p>\n

    I used to work for a large financial firm as a financial adviser. The pay was amazing, and I enjoyed the work. Hours weren\u2019t the greatest, and that led to the circumstances that involved me leaving. A new mandate rolled around that we had to work on two Saturdays a month for about three hours each. I am an observant Orthodox Jew, and this is on Shabbos, so that was a non-starter for me. I made a complaint through HR and was informed that as long as I kept my hours up and documented them, things would be fine. Things were not fine.<\/a><\/p>\n

    The latest sex, parenting, and money advice from our columnists delivered to your inbox three times a week.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pay Dirt is Slate\u2019s money advice column. Have a question? Send it to Kristin and Ilyce here. (It\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":227560,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3093],"tags":[4376,51,474,2499,17966,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-227559","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-advice","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-finance","11":"tag-personal-finance","12":"tag-slate-plus","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114774355837424756","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227559\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}