My wife wants us to spend $5,000 to attend her cousin’s destination wedding. I don’t want to go. Am I being selfish?
"I make a very good living compared to her, and just bought a very expensive new car."
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The Moneyist
Providing answers to life's money questions
Do you have questions about inheritance, tipping, weddings, re-gifting, or any tricky money issues relating to family and friends? Send them to MarketWatch's Moneyist.
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My husband and I have two children. He has a daughter from a previous marriage. How much should I leave my stepdaughter in my will?
‘Over the years we have helped my stepdaughter and her daughter financially, and we are happy to do so.’
The cable guy introduced my 90-year-old stepmother to a new ‘friend,’ and she’s gotten fleeced. Am I legally responsible if she ends up destitute?
‘The bad news is she has welcomed this friend back into her home as a live-in caregiver after kicking her out twice.’
‘Cry me a river, right?’: I sold our rental for $325,000. I want to invest the money. My wife wants to pay off our mortgage. Who’s right?
‘Why lock up more than $300,000 in the walls of our home?’
My father retired with up to $10 million, and bought my sister a rehab center. He said no to my request to pay for my kids’ education. What can I do?
‘Two of our children have disabilities, and would really benefit from help with education.’
‘Poor people are not stupid’: I grew up in poverty, earned $14 an hour, and inherited $150,000. Here’s what I have learned from my windfall.
'When I open my accounts and see how they are growing it really fills me with a sense of pride and determination.'
‘I’m in a no-man’s-land’: I’m 75, selling my house and moving overseas. How do I invest the $350,000 from the sale? Where do I move?
"Between my retirement, disability and Supplemental Security Income, I have an annual income of about $116,000, so I can live comfortably."
I’m 46 and a single mother. Should I empty my 401(k) to pay off my house? There’s $128,000 on the mortgage.
‘I currently make good money, and not having to pay a monthly mortgage will help increase my savings.’
How do we ensure our step-grandchildren don’t inherit our estate? We’re worried our adult children will predecease their spouses.
‘Our son and daughter are parents to biological children as well as stepchildren.’
My mother’s will leaves everything to her 3 children. My brother died suddenly — and his wife says she will receive her late husband’s share
'Our spouses are not mentioned in her will and she was not a popular member of our family'
‘I’m drowning in debt’: I was scammed by a ‘friend’ who asked me to take out a loan, and I fell victim to identity theft. Can you help me?
‘I am not an idiot. I’m an educated, employed person.’
My brother-in-law has menial jobs, borrows money and lives with his parents. Will I be his ‘keeper’ after his parents are gone?
‘He has little to no savings despite having lived at home for roughly the last 10 years.’
‘We grew up poor and financially ignorant’: My children are 14 and 16. Is it too late to save for their college education?
‘Even thinking about finances stresses us out.’
‘I’m retired and live off Social Security’: Will canceling 10 credit cards hurt my credit score? If so, how long will it take to recover?
‘I’m a 67-year-old widower with a credit score of around 800.’
‘I grew up an only child’: My father wants me to inherit the family home, but my late mother also had a son from her first marriage. Are we doing the right thing?
'My dad says the house will pass to me in a transfer-on-death deed, so it cannot be contested by my half-brother. Is that correct?'
‘I wouldn’t be successful at my job without her’: My friend cleans, cooks and cares for my child. I pay her $50 a day. Am I taking advantage of her?
'I still nurse my daughter, put her down for naps and change her dirty diapers.'
‘We live in purgatory’: My wife has a multimillion-dollar trust fund, but my mother-in-law controls it. We earn $400,000 and spend beyond our means. What’s our next move?
‘I worry about how much we are spending on dining out and groceries, while at the same time discussing a near $1 million renovation of our apartment.’
I met my wife in 2019 and we married in 2020. I put her name on the deed of my $998,000 California home. Now I want a divorce. What can I do?
‘I make close to $200,000 a year, and my wife makes $78,000.’
‘My husband and my father never really got along’: How do I ensure my husband of 26 years never gets his hands on my inheritance of several million dollars?
‘If anything happens to me, I want my children to inherit these funds.’
My father named my late mother as a beneficiary on his $80,000 life insurance, but my stepmother says it belongs to her. Who’s right?
‘My stepmother betrayed my dad’s last wishes.’
‘Something snapped inside him’: My contractor boyfriend of 2 years dumped me. He said I was using him to fix up my house.
‘Last weekend, he hung some blinds for my daughter. Then I asked him to take a look at my pond, as it was leaking.’
