Money-morality-question
 

Not sure if this would really be a "morality" question or not...

Let suppose you "give" someone an amount of money.
"Give" may not be the correct term, nor would "gift" - more like "got any cash on you ?" - "here, have fun and win something"

But for lack of a better term, you "give" someone an amount of money for which to gamble. Buy a lottery ticket, play slots, whatever.

Let suppose the original amount is not large. Let's say $50.

Let's suppose they win a fair amount of money. Let's say over $1000.

Since the winner had no money in which to gamble in the first place, the "giver" took the risk and made the investment.
Should the "giver" be returned any amount of money? Or only the amount of money that was "given" in the first place?

Should to winnings be split 50/50?


If you hand me a buck, and I buy a lottery ticket and win a million, should you only get a buck back?


No, this did not happen... just figurative.

I borrowed $20 at the pony races, won $80, paid the $20 back, kept $60. I was okay with that. :)

I think it would be appropriate to split the winnings 50/50 in most cases regardless of the amount.

Agreed, I believe there's not any legal obligation to return 1/2 (or any amount) to the donor especially if it's clearly a gift ("here go have fun"). If it's a loan probably standard contract law comes into play and the donor would be obligated to return the original amount. However the appropriate thing to do would be to hand a big chunk (1/2 is probably fair) over to the original benefactor of the money that was used to procure the winnings.

If I give you $2,000 to go invest in stocks and you happen to turn it into $20,000, it might be a different story since your knowledge and expertise had something to do with the success and is worth something - with gambling, not so much. Again, it would depend on the circumstances and particulars of the arrangement however.

And if he lost the gamble, would you have eaten half the losses?

When you lend cash, you lend the cash, not the results of using that cash, unless otherwise stated up front.

If it was a ton of cash that was won, then a bit of a "thanks" back would be a nice gesture, but to expect half is nuts, I'd say.

As a general rule don't lend friends money (or tools) ever, unless you want to find out just how big of a-holes "friends" can turn into. Sad but true. Always expect anything you hand over to someone else to be treated as a permanent gift and you won't be disappointed.

I like my friends but I don't lend them money (although I would bail them out of trouble if I ever had to) and I don't lend them tools (although I say they're welcome to come over anytime and use whatever they want).

Life is hard enough without creating additional complications over stupid things like that.

If I was the borrower or received a "gift" and won I would give half to the person that lent/gave me the money.
It just seem right to do that.

If it was a "loan", I'd pay back the loan with much generosity (but not necessariuly half). If it were a "gift", I might even give "more than half"'...I'd figure out what the "right amount" was depending upon the circumstances. Interesting "problem" to have though :).

+1

Unless it is stipulated up front that you are expecting not only the original amount but also a portion of the winnings, you shouldn't expect anything. Even so, there's a huge difference between, "here's $20" and "here, you can borrow $20". If the original amount was given/gifted NOT lended, then technically, you shouldn't expect any of it back. Now, friends or people who might later want another "gift" should willingly give the original amount back. Then, possibly some small interest or possibly something else (take you out to dinner, bottle of wine, etc...)

If it was given with no strings attached....

"When you lend cash, you lend the cash, not the results of using that cash, unless otherwise stated up front."

That goes without saying at the pawnshop, just pay the juice.
You have to separate business from friendship; perhaps aquaintanceship would be a better word
Jim

Personally, if I lent cash out to a friend and he came into a windfall, my thoughts wouldn't be "what's my take", it'd be "awesome, I'm happy for you!".

Just sayin.

No obligation to repay anything but the original $50.

Good responses. If it's a gift, for birthday or such, I can see no sharing of the windfall. if it's a loan, repayment of the loan.

Let's suppose you're at a casino with your GF. Or just a friend. She sits down at a slot, asks you if you have a dollar, and you hand one over, and she wins.

No need to discuss not lending money to friends, etc.. again, this didn't happen.


In any case, I agree with sc_rufctr

Perfect answer.

Anal.

+1

A favorite saying of mine:
If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.

If you "give" someone money, you should expect or recieve nothing in return.
if you LOAN someone money you should expect to get back the exact amount you loaned, and if they decide to give you back some interest that's gravy.
in no way should anyone feel entitled to anything beyond that.

If you give someone money and they win something with it, you are not entitled to the winnings and should not expect to get any of it.

Suppose you "gave" someone some money and they went out and tried to buy illegal drugs with it, and you had absolutely no knowledge of their act or intention.
Should you be arrested for it?

If that doesn't seen right then don't give or loan anyone money.

That's a good one. Another is "a fool and his money are my best friends".

Sure, it might be anal. But... that's pretty much exactly what happened, only she didn't win.

A discussion revealed that, had she in fact won, I would have only been privy to the return of my original dollar amount.

Which seems pretty selfish to me.

I suppose the better way to have phrased the question would have been under the selfishness category, not the morality category. If it were a loan, morally, there's no obligation to return any amount more than the original. If it were a gift, there's no obligation at all.
Is there something between "gift" and "loan?"

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!



Wolfe, go back and read his reply again.