A Man's Wife Accused Him Of 'Gloating' By Revealing They're Millionaires Because She Tells People They're Broke
She's keeping her wealth hidden.
SHVETS production / Pexels Being self-conscious about how much money we make is a familiar concept to many of us, but one couple arguably took it too far.
One man explained to Reddit that, due to saving and careful financing, he and his wife have been able to live comfortably and save up assets equal to over one million dollars.
However, his wife has an odd habit — she tells people she and her husband are broke.
In a conversation with friends who were purchasing a new car, his wife shared that she wished she could afford a new car as well.
“She will go on to talk about if she had money what she would want to buy,” the husband writes, “and it always makes me feel ashamed.”
He manages all of the finances and sets up their kids’ college funds, savings, and checking accounts.
He doesn’t keep the finances secret from his wife, though. In fact, he goes over the budget “at least once a month” with her.
And despite the couple keeping a relatively low amount of money in their monthly checking, they are never restricted to that number. “It’s not like we only have $500 to spend,” he explains. “Our CC limit is $25,000.”
He later asked his wife about the situation, to which she said that she always feels broke because her bank account is so low.
Her husband then offered to increase their budget, or keep more money in the bank, but she declined, saying that she was happy with how it was.
“I explained that when she says we are broke it makes me look bad and I feel ashamed. It’s as though I can't provide for the family and/or I am bad with money. She doesn't see it that way.”
The conversation continued to come up, and eventually, her husband told her that he would reveal their actual financial situation if she continued to claim they were broke. He reminded her of it multiple times, but she kept pressing on.
“At a dinner with her sister and parents the same ‘I'm broke’ story came up. I piped in and said, 'It's weird to hear a millionaire say they are broke.' My wife said, 'Haha, I'm not though.' And I quickly say, 'We are millionaires and you know that. We go over our finances every month.'”
The story quickly died after that, and the night went on.
Then, the same thing happened again a little later. She repeated the story, and he repeated his correction.
His wife is now upset with her husband for revealing how much money they have.
“She said it seems like I'm gloating,” he writes. “I say it’s better than making me look like I'm running us into the ground financially.”
The comments on Reddit seem to be divided on the situation.
Some believe the husband is doing the right thing, and others argue that the whole situation is a mess.
The top comment claims that the husband was right to correct the lie. “It’s a classic case of play stupid games, win stupid prizes.”
Others agree, saying that simply correcting the inaccurate statement wasn’t uncalled for. What his wife was saying simply wasn’t true, and he was pointing that out without being confrontational. He had also told her in advance that this would happen, and she hadn’t changed her course of action.
One comment argues that the wife’s actions are possibly rooted in class guilt.
“I think it’s a sign that she is uncomfortable with being perceived as wealthy. She knows she is, signs onto the money plan, but then deprecates their financial situation in front of others. I bet she has some hidden fear of how people will perceive her if they know she’s well-off: that she’s snobby, unrelatable, a gold digger, or will ask her for money.”
Another, however, believes both parties are in the wrong.
This commenter went into the husband’s post history to discover that his $1.7M family trust is a fortune he will eventually split with his two siblings.
“It’s entirely possible that OPs wife doesn’t consider that money hers, so yeah while they may live comfortably and could have a more lavish lifestyle, their annual income might not really support that. She’s a bit of an AH for claiming poverty, but he’s an AH also for counting his management of shared/family money as 'being a millionaire.'”
Eventually, the husband updated his post to say that he would speak more with his wife on the matter.
“After reading posts I think she may not feel like it’s her money since she never saved much before we got engaged.”
Hawthorn Martin is a news and entertainment writer living in Texas. They focus on social justice, pop culture, and human interest stories.