Is anyone else just dumbstruck over the financial decisions the people around them make?
I literally just found out that one of my subordinates doesnt even have his own bank account. He is working overseas and ALL of his check gets deposited in to his wife's account. He has asked me for advice on what to do with the money because all it does is just sit there in a savings account making next to nothing, but unfortunately being a Non-US citizen means it's a little more difficult than giving the usual answer of "Low cost index funds".
Although personally I would caution against working in a warzone and depositing those funds in
anyone else's bank, one could reasonably argue "hey, it's my wife, I trust her". Fair enough. But you've now given that person absolute control over your life's savings of working warzone gigs for the last 4 years. Then, because you're lonely, you've kept a girlfriend here in Iraq for the last 6 months.
As I said, it's a subordinate, so I didnt say what was on my mind (are you really this retarded?), and instead just said "You realize that if your money goes into an account that doesnt even have your name attached, it's pretty much no longer your money". IMO, if his wife ever finds out about his girlfriend, I think it's safe to say she probably wont be in the mood to give back even a share of that hard earned nest egg. She'll get the kids, the house and keep the nest egg... and ya know what, you probably deserve it.
But I didnt say that. I didnt express my shock nd awe at this otherwise financially educated and savvy saver. I just put my face in my hands and said I was feeling really tired lately and couldnt wait for my next break (12 days and counting down).
I've seen ugly things in the past... guys working in Baghdad for 2 years, then going home to find a completely emptied house and zero'd out bank accounts. Or rotational oil workers who find the love of their life in Thailand... coming back to visit her in their big expensive house in Thailand, meanwhile she cant wait for him to get back to work so her boyfriend can move back in.
For me, I still follow the advice of an old real estate invesotr guru... "when ya dont put yourself in a position to gt totally skru'd, the odds of it happening drop dramatically."
Anyway, just wanted to share/vent... even when someone is a great saver and financially pretty well off, they can still make illogical choices that put it all at risk.