Would You Keep $100,000 or Give It to a Family in Need?
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http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/personalfinance/would-you-keep-dollar100000-or-give-it-to-a-family-in-need/ar-BBkhT9m
If it were easy to separate emotions from money decisions, people would probably be a lot more financially stable. If that were the case, it wouldn't be very interesting to watch a TV show in which struggling families are given briefcases full of $101,000 and told anything they don't keep will be given to another family in need. In the absence of emotion, those families might just keep the money and address their financial woes with it.
Of course, such a decision is a lot messier than it should logically be, as CBS's new reality show "The Briefcase" exhibits when it presents families with precisely that dilemma. In the premiere episode, which airs at 8 p.m. EST on Wednesday, Kim and Joe Bergin struggle with whether they should keep the money to save their business, manage their medical expenses and chip away at their massive debt or if they should give some or all of it to another struggling family, Cara and Dave Bronson. What they don't know is that the Bronson family also received a briefcase and is trying to make the same decision.
If you doubt how difficult such a decision would be, you might change your mind within minutes of starting this show, which features Kim, Joe, Cara and Dave in tears quite often. Trying to decide what to do with the money makes Kim Bergin physically ill at one point, and the tears continued to flow weeks after she and Joe met the Bronsons and shared their decisions.
"I'm crying now," she said in a phone call on May 21, when she and Joe recounted the experience to Credit.com. "It's still so emotional."
The Bergin Family
Kim and Joe Bergin live in Matthews, N.C., with their three teenage daughters. They own an ice cream truck business that has fallen on hard times, which were compounded by trucks falling into disrepair and Joe getting in a car accident that prevented him from working for three months. They rarely have enough money to cover their monthly expenses.
Before any of this happened, the Bergins said they didn't know how they were going to get out from under the more than $140,000 they had in debt (including their mortgage).
"We felt like we had a black cloud hanging over us," Kim Bergin said. "My husband is the hardest-working person I know, and we could never get ahead. … This show brought this beautiful light at the end of the tunnel."
The Bergins were cast in "The Briefcase" under the impression they were participating in a documentary about Americans struggling with their finances, so when a producer of the show arrived with the briefcase of $101,000 and told them their options, they were stunned. (They got to spend $1,000 immediately and had 72 hours to decide what to do with the remaining cash, and they received information about the Bronsons along the way.)
"The first thing was really the unknown," Joe Bergin said of the experience. "You just assume the family is more deserving than you, you assume that they're worse off than you, and the way I was reared, I don't deserve this money because I didn't earn it." He also had to think about the message he wanted to send his kids in the decision to keep the money or give it away. "A lot of that was going on in my head … it was very, very, very emotional, up and down."
The Bronson Family
At first, the families knew nothing about each other. The Bergins eventually learned that the Bronsons lived in Manchester, N.H, with a 2-year-old son and another child on the way. Cara works nights shifts as a nurse, and Dave is a stay-at-home dad. He lost one of his legs because of injuries he sustained fighting in Iraq in 2005, and he hasn't been able to find work because of the ongoing struggles with his medical conditions.
Both families went through a wide range of emotions during the 72 hours they had to decide what to do with the money, but the experience didn't end with their decisions.
"I've changed with Kim, as far as my involvement in the finances and things like that," said Joe Bergin, who basically had no role in the family finances prior to filming the show. "[I'm] definitely more proactive with it — more discussion time and helping her absorb all the stress."
As emotionally trying as the show clearly was, the Bergins said they were grateful to have the experience, and they felt that way well before they learned that the Bronsons had also been going through the same thing.
"You always wonder what you would do in a situation like that, and until you are in it you just don't know," Joe Bergin said. "Just my outlook towards people in need, it just has changed. I used to just blow it off, and now you look at this a little differently."
That was the idea, according to executive producer Dave Broome, who is best known for being a creator of "The Biggest Loser."
"Money is a great opportunity for you to talk about your values in your life — your needs, your wants," he said. He said he hopes viewers come away from the show with a renewed faith in humanity, as he experienced. "I was very, very emotionally affected by making this show like you wouldn't believe."
The show premieres Wednesday, May 27 at 8 p.m. EST on CBS.
If it were easy to separate emotions from money decisions, people would probably be a lot more financially stable. If that were the case, it wouldn't be very interesting to watch a TV show in which struggling families are given briefcases full of $101,000 and told anything they don't keep will be given to another family in need. In the absence of emotion, those families might just keep the money and address their financial woes with it.
Of course, such a decision is a lot messier than it should logically be, as CBS's new reality show "The Briefcase" exhibits when it presents families with precisely that dilemma. In the premiere episode, which airs at 8 p.m. EST on Wednesday, Kim and Joe Bergin struggle with whether they should keep the money to save their business, manage their medical expenses and chip away at their massive debt or if they should give some or all of it to another struggling family, Cara and Dave Bronson. What they don't know is that the Bronson family also received a briefcase and is trying to make the same decision.
If you doubt how difficult such a decision would be, you might change your mind within minutes of starting this show, which features Kim, Joe, Cara and Dave in tears quite often. Trying to decide what to do with the money makes Kim Bergin physically ill at one point, and the tears continued to flow weeks after she and Joe met the Bronsons and shared their decisions.
"I'm crying now," she said in a phone call on May 21, when she and Joe recounted the experience to Credit.com. "It's still so emotional."
The Bergin Family
Kim and Joe Bergin live in Matthews, N.C., with their three teenage daughters. They own an ice cream truck business that has fallen on hard times, which were compounded by trucks falling into disrepair and Joe getting in a car accident that prevented him from working for three months. They rarely have enough money to cover their monthly expenses.
Before any of this happened, the Bergins said they didn't know how they were going to get out from under the more than $140,000 they had in debt (including their mortgage).
"We felt like we had a black cloud hanging over us," Kim Bergin said. "My husband is the hardest-working person I know, and we could never get ahead. … This show brought this beautiful light at the end of the tunnel."
The Bergins were cast in "The Briefcase" under the impression they were participating in a documentary about Americans struggling with their finances, so when a producer of the show arrived with the briefcase of $101,000 and told them their options, they were stunned. (They got to spend $1,000 immediately and had 72 hours to decide what to do with the remaining cash, and they received information about the Bronsons along the way.)
"The first thing was really the unknown," Joe Bergin said of the experience. "You just assume the family is more deserving than you, you assume that they're worse off than you, and the way I was reared, I don't deserve this money because I didn't earn it." He also had to think about the message he wanted to send his kids in the decision to keep the money or give it away. "A lot of that was going on in my head … it was very, very, very emotional, up and down."
The Bronson Family
At first, the families knew nothing about each other. The Bergins eventually learned that the Bronsons lived in Manchester, N.H, with a 2-year-old son and another child on the way. Cara works nights shifts as a nurse, and Dave is a stay-at-home dad. He lost one of his legs because of injuries he sustained fighting in Iraq in 2005, and he hasn't been able to find work because of the ongoing struggles with his medical conditions.
Both families went through a wide range of emotions during the 72 hours they had to decide what to do with the money, but the experience didn't end with their decisions.
"I've changed with Kim, as far as my involvement in the finances and things like that," said Joe Bergin, who basically had no role in the family finances prior to filming the show. "[I'm] definitely more proactive with it — more discussion time and helping her absorb all the stress."
As emotionally trying as the show clearly was, the Bergins said they were grateful to have the experience, and they felt that way well before they learned that the Bronsons had also been going through the same thing.
"You always wonder what you would do in a situation like that, and until you are in it you just don't know," Joe Bergin said. "Just my outlook towards people in need, it just has changed. I used to just blow it off, and now you look at this a little differently."
That was the idea, according to executive producer Dave Broome, who is best known for being a creator of "The Biggest Loser."
"Money is a great opportunity for you to talk about your values in your life — your needs, your wants," he said. He said he hopes viewers come away from the show with a renewed faith in humanity, as he experienced. "I was very, very emotionally affected by making this show like you wouldn't believe."
The show premieres Wednesday, May 27 at 8 p.m. EST on CBS.
Comments
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cant help no one if you cant help yourself first.
always put on your oxygen mask first before you assist others.
im keeping the ? money ...build and then help others.
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*Didn't Read - keeping the money*
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This ? always with them long ass articles.
But yea, I'm keeping that skrill -
How is this a tough decision? If you're doing well and you're given the choice, I guess it could be rough, but why would it be a tough choice if your family is going through financial problems. You need to take care of your family before anyone else.
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lol..I am a family in need. I'd be willing to share though.
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? i give my boys wife 100k a year cause he's not here anymore and its my fault
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my boy got killed in iraq and it was my fault so i give his wife 100k a year for whatever her and the kids need -
Heart aint got no brain, brain aint got no heart.
I am keeping the money. -
? that family.
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What happen -
going on patrol i complained that i didn't want to be in the turret anymore and he said he'll do it, five minutes out the wire he got shot in the head and died, survivors guilt is a muthafucka -
Damn
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going on patrol i complained that i didn't want to be in the turret anymore and he said he'll do it, five minutes out the wire he got shot in the head and died, survivors guilt is a muthafucka
i keep saying......there is a reason for everything. -
Id flip it an shoot em the 100k that way we both eat
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? I am a family in need
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going on patrol i complained that i didn't want to be in the turret anymore and he said he'll do it, five minutes out the wire he got shot in the head and died, survivors guilt is a muthafucka
Damn.. -
id give 10k and i would save the rest and invest.
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Gotta take care of home first before you try taking care of other people.
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Got damn
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Keeping it
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Keeping it.
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I actually made a song about this topic...but it was a million dollars. honestly idk what I would do
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i aint about to read all that ? ..
? is wrong wit these people..
whats the ? struggle??
dont cast me.. cause wont be no show.
OF COURSE im keepin the money..
? whoever on the other end. lol -
I don't see what incentive there is to give the money away. The only thing I could see is shooting the other fam some to cover medical expenses since someone's life is at stake there. Other than that...nah.