would you give a friend 200K if it would save his life?

my wife is active on a board called UB. there was a discussion today: guy works in finance, looses job, goes $200K in debt. a very good friend who he has known all his life has net worth of $100 mil. the wife thinks the first guy should ask the friend for help. question is, if you had $100 mil net worth, would you give a friend $200K to get him out of the whole. side issues, maybe this guy fucked up to get where he is. declaring personal bankrupcy means he can't work in his field again.

my wife asked me, and my first thought was "yes, no issue". if somebody asked me for 25% of my net worth now, in those circomstances, I 'd give it. but I am not a high net worth individual. people don't really ask me for money, and I don't have to worry about protecting a fortune for my kids.

what do you think?

Only on the condition that he signs his name in his blood on a piece of paper that says "SOUL."

If he's a real friend, I wouldn't blink an eye, even if my networth is 1/10th of the guy in your hypo. Money is only money, real friends are hard to come by.

I hate those situations. That is why I avoid friends all together.

no, in all honesty, it would really depend on the situation. I wouldn't completely bail him out. Give him an lemon and see if he can actually make a little lemonade ... (not sure if that saying works the other way).

Originally Posted by velobran

Click to expand...

no, in all honesty, it would really depend on the situation.

Me, too. I've regularly given a lot more than I actually could have spared given my salary during personal tragedies (when a student's family loses a home in a fire, or when a student has to have surgery and their family doesn't proper insurance).

But, beyond that, the sort of situation where someone very successful suddenly loses their comfortable financial security would warrant a LOT of analysis of the situation before I'd plop down that kind of money, regardless of my net worth.

Absolutely not. Not family, not friends, nobody.

I am not a bank.

The title of the thread is a bit misleading. If my friend needed $200K for a kidney transplant, no question. If he needed $200K to avoid financial hardship and continue his chosen profession, that's another matter entirely.

Lending money is never a good idea.

Yes! its really not the money at all, its the need for help- if one can help and its a friend and one knows the value of what that really means than you do it! - and its a gift not a loan. when one gives money - expect that it will never be returned. If help comes with conditions or interest or signing your live away, its not really help, its delaying the inevitable. Bottom line - throw the life ring every time! when your scars are examined your decency and kindness will always prevail!

When people claim that it's not "The money", then it's usually about "The money".

It comes down to the numbers.

Helping someone with 25% of my net worth. No way on Earth.

Helping someone with 2/10s of 1% of my net worth ($200,000 out of $100,000,000). Maybe, depending on the circumstances. But probably not.

I've known a few very high net worth individuals and they have not thrown their money around.

Originally Posted by Ambulance Chaser

Click to expand...

The title of the thread is a bit misleading. If my friend needed $200K for a kidney transplant, no question. If he needed $200K to avoid financial hardship and continue his chosen profession, that's another matter entirely.

Agree here, too. I mean, did he lose his job because he was the only one in his company standing up for right and justice, while all the others were doing something nefarious... or did he invest too highly in speculative money schemes, housing market, credit crunch, etc. and end up being the one not clever enough to ensure he had a chair when the music stopped?

Overall, I'm sure any of us would help if the situation truly merited it... it's just that the situation RARELY merits it unless in matters of health or tragedy.

Originally Posted by Ambulance Chaser

Click to expand...

The title of the thread is a bit misleading. If my friend needed $200K for a kidney transplant, no question. If he needed $200K to avoid financial hardship and continue his chosen profession, that's another matter entirely.

But wouldn't this again be relative to your net worth.

Sure, if you are worth $10,000,000 and up, then it's almost a no brainer to help the friend with a kidney transplant to save his life.

But what if you are worth $250,000. Sure it would save the friend's life, but that is 80% of your net worth.

Again, it's about the numbers and peoples perceptions and beliefs.

And lest we not forget. The end result of life is death.

I would frankly give it more thought if it was a tiny, tiny portion of my net worth, as is the case. However, I have lent money on two occasions to friends, and it did not turn out well. I am gun shy at this point.

Originally Posted by Ambulance Chaser

Click to expand...

The title of the thread is a bit misleading. If my friend needed $200K for a kidney transplant, no question. If he needed $200K to avoid financial hardship and continue his chosen profession, that's another matter entirely.

+1

How do you go from being very successful in finance, which would imply that you have savings and investments, to owing 200k in debt just because you lost your job? Did he get fired and then make a bunch of stupid buys on margin in an attempt to buy himself a long vacation? What happened to the equity in his house? I would not bail someone out on the information provided.