Marketplace®

Daily business news and economic stories
Season 1Episode 11Aug 22, 2019

The lies we tell our friends

…to hide our money (or lack thereof).

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Jack Brunson and his wife, Jayme, in front of the home they bought with his inheritance.
Jack Brunson and his wife, Jayme, in front of the home they bought with his inheritance.
Courtesy: Jack Brunson

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It started out small.

When Jack Brunson’s dad died, it was easy to tell his friends that he didn’t get much of an inheritance. They’d met when they were all young and broke and had each other’s backs.

A lot of those friends were still scraping by, keeping the anti-capitalist flame alive in Tennessee’s punk scene. Coming into a six-figure inheritance would have changed the way those friends saw him, Brunson reasoned: better to just keep it to himself.

 
Jack Brunson performs with his band Big If True.
Jack Brunson

Most of us tell little white lies at some point or another to make things less weird about money. But what happens when disaster strikes, and your money situation becomes impossible to hide?

That’s what we’re exploring on this week’s show. We’re also looking for your stories about those little white lies you’ve told to cover up your money, or lack of money. We promise not to judge. Drop us a line at uncomfortable@marketplace.org.

The Team

The lies we tell our friends