He saw a bag, kicked it and heard jangling. After discovering the wet money inside, he took his find to a First National Bank branch to exchange it for dry currency, The Statesman reported.There had to be a notice in the paper first, but after 90 days, it was his, under the age-old legal principle finders, keepers.
That’s when police were called in.
The man, Timothy Yost, says: “I’ve been walking for so long, first thing I want is a vehicle.” You might think that a person that we call "homeless" would say the first thing I want is a home. Perhaps in his own mind, he thought of himself as carless.
Some of the people in the comments at the link don't agree with that car-before-home judgment:
70k won't last long. it's a fortune to someone who is homeless but one wonders how he came to be homeless in the first place. if the cause was bad judgment then 70k will be gone in no time. buying a car seems silly when housing, an apartment, clothing should be a priority and finding a job to increase the 70k or maintain most of it. perhaps a good bicycle to start. with a car, he will spend on insurance, fuel, and maintaining it.Don't you need a car (in Texas) to find an apartment and to buy new clothes and other supplies? You can live in your car in a pinch, but you can't drive around in your apartment. And it's his experience. Needing to walk everywhere troubled him more than having to sleep wherever he did.
Good luck — further good luck — to Mr. Yost.
Posts
36 comments:
Gold for clunkers.
My favorite comment is the person complaining that the work everyday and nothing like this happens to them. I'm pretty sure that nothing like this happens to the majority of people not lucky and able enough to have a job, but they seem to ignore that.
In fact, a lot of those comments are just ever so.
Shave and a haircut, 2 bits!.... plus adjustment for inflation, etc.
Attorney Peacock will take a bite, I assume?
Spend the cash as necessary but keep those Krugerrands as, given US debt and Fed proclivity towards a QE policy, there will be considerable future appreciation.
He could invest in lottery tickets.
What about his INCOMD TAX on that 70K??? FICA? Medicare? Medicade?
I always figured living in a van down by the river would pay off!!!
"Homeless man in Texas wins right to keep bag containing $70,000 in cash, gold. He found it in a bag down by the river..."
Was his name Matt Foley: Motivational Speaker?
Matt Foley: Now, as your father probably told you, my name is Matt Foley, and I am a Motivational Speaker! Now, let's get started by me giving you a little bit of a scenario of what my life is all about! First off, I am 35 years old.. I am divorced.. and I live in a van down by the river!
Now, you kids are probably saying to yourself, "Now, I'm gonna go out, and I'm gonna get the world by the tail, and wrap it around and put it in my pocket!!" Well, I'm here to tell you that you're probably gonna find out, as you go out there, that you're not gonna amount to Jack Squat!!" You're gonna end up eating a steady diet of government cheese, and living in a van down by the river! Now, young man, what do you want to do with your life?
Brian: I.. actually, Matt.. I kinda wanna be a writer..
Matt Foley: We-e-e-elll.. la-de-freakin'-da! We've got ourselves a writer here! [jumps across the room] Hey, Dad, I can't see real good.. [lifts his glasses off and on his face] ..is that Bill Shakespeare over there?
Dad: Well, actually, Matt.. Ellen and I have encouraged Brian in his writing.
Matt Foley: Dad, I wish you could just shut your big yapper! [stumbles back across the room] Now, I wonder.. Brian, from what I've heard, you're using your paper, not for writing, but for rolling doobies!! You're gonna be doing a lot of doobie-rolling when you're living in a van down by the river! [turns to Stacy] Young lady, what do you want to do with your life?!
Stacy: [sarcastic] I want to live in a van down by the river.
Matt Foley: Well, you'll have plenty of time to live in a van down by the river when you're.. [tries to be clever] ..living in a van down by the river!
Now that the story has gone nationwide, someone will step forward to say that they were robbed and the bag was left there by the robbers. The story today reaches more people than whatever the police did to find the rightful owner. A few flyers, maybe?
What will happen if someone steps forward? Especially if they reported the amount missing?
What? Hell yes. This is America. Let's all tell him how to spend his own money.
At least now he can cover his individual mandate.
We’ve actually had one person who said it was his money but has yet rescinded that and signed a statement saying he does not wish to pursue claim to those funds any longer
So what is that all about?
Does Yost need to go undercover?
re: Gold for clunkers, stay away from Government Motors
Finally someone in America whose net worth went up!
So what is that all about?
I don't know...How about explaining how and where you got that money to begin with and reconciling that with your earning and taxes paid.
A car = freedom. A house = debt slavery (payments, utilities, taxes, etc.) You can sleep in a vehicle; you can't drive a house.
EDH,
On of the best SNL skits every. Spade and the rest can't keep straight faces because Farley was so funny.
Alas for Mr. Yost, he will owe the IRS its share of this windfall. "Found money" (or "treasure troves") is taxable income, reportable in the year it is reduced to undisputed possession.
Cesarini v. U.S.,2 296 F.Supp. 3 (N.D. Ohio, 1969)
All these idiots saying a home is much better than a car are saying things provably false. First, a house costs nearly $70K, if you buy some thing very cheap. In Texas, since there is not income tax, property taxes are fairly high. Maintenance on a house is fairly expensive.
By comparison, you can sleep in a car and easily go to different areas. Maintenance on a car is fairly cheap. And the government butt fucks you less for owning a car than a house.
If, as many are saying, his homelessness is indicative of his irresponsibility, isn't buying a car, rather than a house a recognition of the irresponsibility? Why would you want someone so irresponsible to blow $70K on a house he won't maintain and end up losing to the government for failing to pay taxes?
"You can't go to town in a bathtub" is the response to why a household chose to buy a car before buying indoor plumbing-- rom Robert S. and Helen M. Lynd's 1929 study of Munie, Indiana, Middletown
Besides, you might be able to obtain free temporary shelter (at least to clean yourself up), but you're unlikely to obtain a free car.
Although in the end it is surely true that, if the root cause his homelessness is not addressed, his $70k will not last long.
Tax Calculator
Federal Income tax on $70,000 is roughly $11,000?
Can he itemize attorney fees?
So someone claimed it, and rescinded the claim.
Prediction: The homeless man will be robbed shortly by the Gang who lost the money.
Ann,
Get a small and efficient RV (Class C or B) and 26 feet or less in length. It can provide transport and a home and it can be parked almost anywhere.
Buy it used. There are incredible bargains out there if you take the time to look. Especially in CA, FL and TX. These markets are saturated with surplus RVs that are looking for owners. Try bank repos and estate or bankruptcy sales.
Good luck.
"Down by the river..I shot my ba@$, WHOA HERE'S A BAG OF GOLD," as the hobo looks for a rainbow.
I think Ken is a hobo. He has great hobo tips. Any recipes, Ken? What do I do w/ a freah road kill possum?
I wish him well, but, yeah, he'll blast through that in no time.
And, sad to say, but PatHMV is right on the money...
just like the IRS will be.
I truly hope that he will use this to turn his life around...find a place to live, find a way to get around, and get treatment for his alcoholism and a job. And keep the gold in a safe deposit box for the future.
Unfortunately I suspect he will blow it all within six months.
Good luck to him. I suspect that he will need every last bit of it.
It's a gift. The guy who lost it owes a tax, but not the finder.
It's none of your business how this guy spends his money. If he wants to buy a 7,000 pet rocks it's his own business. No one tries to tell rich guys what they can and can't buy, but if if it's a "homeless guy" then everyone thinks their opinion is very important when it comes to his decisions.
Unless you live in one of our (meaning US) urban jungles, car > home, and especially in Texas. If you live light, whether by choice or circumstance, you can pretty effectively live in a car for a while.
(Especially, if that car happens to be a old-style van that you can still buy parts for but that doesn't need to be hooked up to a computer to troubleshoot.)
And in most parts of Texas outside of the panhandle, it never gets cold enough that you can't find a place to camp...
Back in the late eighties in Austin, I found myself having to do just that for a while... by circumstance.
Anyway, even hoboes have a place in the world. If only they would shower once in a while.
Houseless, You struck a nerve. Great comment!
Jewel Kilcher was living in her car in San Diego when she recorded her platinum hit, You Were Meant For Me.
By comparison, you can sleep in a car and easily go to different areas. Maintenance on a car is fairly cheap. And the government butt fucks you less for owning a car than a house
He should buy a nice used van. Maybe a 95 chevy G-20 Something like THIS He could trick it out with a little fridge, stove, folding chairs and tables to sit outside and some camping gear. Nice fold up bed. Good stereo. Maybe invest in a shade canopy. You can live in something like that and still have well over $50K left in the bank.
Here is an even nicer one I personally think it would be very cool to have a van like this to take long extended rambling trips with no plan or schedule.
The guy should do what he wants. But, most likely he will get scammed or robbed of his windfall.
"So someone claimed it, and rescinded the claim."
Unless it's something they managed to get insurance to cover, and if it's returned he has to give the insurance money back. If, for example, it's a jewelry store owner or something, who was robbed.
If that's the case, maybe he gets nothing additional for getting his stuff back, and only takes this homeless guy's windfall away.
Maybe? I can see someone deciding not to do that.
Silly Ann. While it's possible to live in a car, you can't drive a house. I would suggest a nice used camper truck.
It's Texas in the summer. You want a car, preferably one with A/C.
That homeless man should now purchase his own car! Might as well have Used Cars Texas for it. :)
Post a Comment