u/Livid_Inspector_2091

Are They at Risk of Bankruptcy? Or will They Become Instant Millionaires?

I have an in law who I have known for 10+ years. They are the type to not be helpful at all and barely do any house work as their wife manages the kids and home. They have visited multiple times and expect to be fed and taken care of like a child and are not at all helpful (they are 30 btw).

They work in a small town for a financial firm as a CFP and for the longest time made less than 6 figures and have no benefits. They have said how they will simply buy the company and I never thought it would ever happen but now they say they will be buying it and taking ownership starting next year.

They told me they will be buying it for $5 million and have even joked about having to potentially file for bankruptcy if it doesnt work out. They have said how they will buy a big home in a few years and feel they will soon make more money than anyone in the family and expect to be the “Pillar” that helps everyone (including me).

The part that is frustrating, is that I have had to fly down everytime they have had a kid to help their wife because my in law does not help AT ALL. They even cried because they got no attention as their wife pushed a baby out with no epidural because they had zero benefits and not enough money to go to the hospital! They also visited me and I had to pay for everything including their rental car. They also live in a home owned by their parents and had all their college paid for.

Yet, now they are about to buy a $5 million dollar company? The owner increased their salary to 125k still with no benefits, after his wife told him to ask for more money so they could feed their kids! They also have been given projects at work and the current owner made them hourly instead of salary to motivate them to get work done as they weren’t doing their work. This in law has been extremely frustrating and its hard for me to believe they are about to be rich over night.

They are saying their salary will increase substantially immediately after taking over the company. The red flags to me are what they have told me 1. All other people/buyers who were interested dropped out. 2. The current owner was a military sergeant who was the head of finance for a long time 3. My in law is barely 30 and doesnt have a ton of work experience 4. He will be the only CFP after the current owner leaves as the company has 4 other employees where 3 are RM’s and 1 is an intern 5. There is a broker involved for the owner, but it doesnt appear that my in law paid for a CPA to do due diligence in seeing if the company is even successful 6. My in law has to pay off $5 million in 5 years.

Am I crazy for feeling like this is an awful idea? Why would the owner give away a successful business to someone that they had to make hourly because they couldn’t do their job? Why did all the other buyers drop out? This is such a small company with only one glass door review and the review literally states that the current owner is mean. My in law wants to expand this business into other big cities, but how can he do that if the military sergeant couldnt??

I am trying really hard to be optimistic and happy for my family, but the fact that my in law is extremely lazy and takes other peoples money is extremely frustrating as he is now trying to say he will become the richest and the “pillar”.

I am not a CFP, and I do not know what its like to be a CFP or if this is realistic. Can someone please explain to me if my in law is about to become a millionaire?

I make 88k with 14% annual bonus depending on how company performs at a large consulting firm. I work as a revenue senior associate where I was recently promoted and hope to be manager in a few years which has a base of 110k. I do not have my CPA and am not planning to pursue it at this moment as my company does not pay for it and does not reward getting it (according to my senior director).

I have decent work life balance (always off by 5pm), and work full remote. I have kids, so it’s been nice as I take them to daycare early in the morning and then pick them up during my lunch at 1pm. I then spend that hour with them and then put them down for a nap as they are little and they nap until my husband gets home (he is able to get to work early and leave early which works perfectly for their current nap schedule).

If you were me, would you stay on the same team and slowly move up or go elsewhere? I would like to eventually break 6 figures which is doable when I become manager and there is only 5 members on my team who have been here for over a decade and one is planning to retire which will open a manager position. My nich is revenue accounting, so eventually I could move into FP&A, but am not sure if I should stay and slowly climb the ladder. Should I just suck it up and get my CPA even if it doesnt benefit me in my current position?

At the end of the day, my dream has always been to be a stay at home mom but in this economy 2 incomes are extremely valuable.

What would you do if you were me? At 28, am I in a good position or am I going to regret staying here?

For accountants who do not have their CPA’s, how did you become so successful? Were you able to move up in Industry? Did you stay in a specific niche and move up? Trying to explore my options, thanks!

I’m a 33-year-old mom of 3, and my husband and I work hard to support our family. I make $90k as an accountant at a consulting firm, and my husband makes $140k as an engineer wanting to move into project management. We’re both trying to move up in our careers and build something stable over time.

A family member of mine is a CFP in a small LCOL town and is planning to buy their boss’s business for $6M next year. They have 2 kids and 1 on the way, and my husband and I have helped them financially more than once. They live in a house owned by their parents, and honestly, they are not someone I would describe as hardworking or self-sufficient. In their home, they expect other people to make them food, and their spouse does most of the childcare and housework. I went down on multiple occasions to help care for their children when they were born as he is not someone that can be depended on.

What makes this even harder to watch is that they’ve talked for years about buying the business, but now it’s actually happening. From what I understand, there’s a broker involved, but I don’t know if anyone has really verified the numbers with a CPA. It just feels like they stumbled into a huge opportunity with very little effort and may end up making a ton of money for basically landing in the right place at the right time.

The frustrating part is that they already act like they’re going to be the “pillar” of the family and have made comments of making the most money wise in the family…that ticked me off a tad since they have also taken money from me and now are telling me they will be the most successful?

But now I’m supposed to believe they’re about to run a business and become wealthy and hold it over everyone else?

I want my family to succeed, but if I’m being honest, I’m really struggling with resentment here. It feels like my husband and I work harder and help more, while this person may end up looking successful just because they landed in the right business at the right time.

Is it actually realistic to assume they’ll become extremely well off from this, or am I missing something?

I grew up loving people who hurt me, and I’m still trying to understand how to grapple with it.

From the outside, growing up my home looked normal. Inside, there was emotional and sometimes physical abuse. My mom used religion in a way that created fear and shame, even telling me I deserved hell just for existing. At one point, she convinced us my dad was a danger to us (pedophile), which caused deep confusion and damage.

My dad was there physically, but never was truly a father in our lives. He eventually moved away, started a new family, and left us behind.

I was homeschooled in a way that felt like isolation. I remember standing at the fence as a kid watching kids get on the school bus, wishing I could just belong somewhere.

After multiple failed marriages and constant mental abuse from our mother, my siblings and I finally left to live with relatives. I had hope that things might get better. Instead, love felt conditional. I spent years trying to be exactly who they wanted, but it was never enough. There were constant double standards, and even when I earned a full-ride scholarship, I was told I was a “pity vote.”

College was one of the darkest times of my life. I was bullied to the point of not wanting to be here anymore (my so called friend group told me I should kill myself), and when I asked for help, I wasn’t believed by my family. Around that same time, I was sexually harassed at work as a teenager by my manager who was a registered sex offender and blamed for it, then told to stay quiet.

Things only started to feel safe when I met my husband. Now we have a son , and he will never have to question if he is loved.

I am grateful for what my family did provide, help with school, college, and my wedding, but it often came with control and conditions.

Even now, the distance is clear. I’m not included the same way, and no one has come to meet my son. The hardest thing I am currently dealing with is attending my cousins wedding where I am not involved in the slightest and have not been asked to give a speech even though we were extremely close growing up together (only a couple months apart in age and were called “the twins”) and he gave a speech at my wedding and my aunt guilt tripped my husband into having him be in our wedding party.

What I struggle with most is holding both truths at once: they helped me, and they hurt me deeply. If you’ve lived something like this, how have you made sense of it? Because it still feels incredibly lonely.