A man’s plan to spend half of his inheritance on cryptocurrency has been slammed online after his wife raged about the decision.
The wife took to popular forum Mumsnet to gain opinions on her situation, following a row about how her husband should spend a £15,000 ($17,600) inheritance.
Squabbles about money are far from rare. In fact, according to research by Ramsey Solutions, money is the number one issue that married couples argue about.
The issue doesn’t only affect those who have tied the knot. A survey by finance site Cashlorette found that 48 percent of Americans in a serious relationship argue about finances.
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For this woman, a £15,000 inheritance has become between her marriage, with her husband gaining the lump sum from his late aunt. They are financially comfortable but “not loaded” and have a “huge” mortgage.
“My husband wants to put the entire amount into Bitcoin,” she wrote. “He’s reluctantly agreed to just put half into Bitcoin and the other half into our joint ISA.”
“For reference, I am the bread winner by a country mile and we share all of our income. I never question this so it now feels unfair that his money is ‘his’ money when for a long time i’ve earned much more and it’s all been shared money.”
“Am I being unreasonable to think this is selfish?” she asked.
Much like the wife, Mumsnet users were angry at the husband for his choice on where to invest his money.
“How utterly selfish of him,” wrote one user. “You’ve shared finances all this time and then he decides the inheritance is his to choose what to do with. If my DH did this it would completely change how I felt about him.”
Another wrote: “I’d just be p***** off that he’s regarding it as his money and not shared esp as you’re the high earner and sharing at that. Would make me totally rethink my finances and wouldn’t bother to consult him on anything you wanted to buy in the future.”
“He has shown you how he truly feels about what’s his now. Act accordingly by starting to keep a percentage of your wages for yourself,” agreed another user. “Awful to find out how he would put himself first rather than the family.”
For others, however, the situation wasn’t so black-and-white, citing that inheritance money shouldn’t be treated in the same way as a salary should.
“I don’t think it’s relevant who the ‘breadwinner’ is and I think using it in your argument is a d*ck move,” claimed one individual. “I think inheritance should be treated differently to normal money. If his aunt wanted it to be left to the family she’d have done that.”
“I think inheritance belongs 100% to whoever inherited it and their wife/husband has no say over it, nor should they accuse them of “being selfish” if they don’t want to spend it the way the husband/wife thinks they should,” agreed another.
“It doesn’t matter that you’re the breadwinner and have contributed more, you earn more so of course your contribution is higher. He’s not in debt bondage to you because he earns less than you,” they added.
“That said, I think Bitcoin is risky, but it is at a low currently and many are hoping for a repeat of the 2018 to 2021 rise. But as you say, you can afford for him to lose all the cash if it goes the other way. So, I’d just let him as it’s his inheritance and £15k isn’t very much anyway. It’s not a life changing sum that would make or break your pensioner years. If he’d bought a motorcycle, he’d spend just as much..so I say keep your beak out.”
One Bitcoin is currently worth about $22,000. In November 2021, it reached a record $68,000 and neared $50,000 in March 2022 but fell sharply in June.
Newsweek was not able to verify the details of the case.
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