It's one of the most disliked subjects of discussion around Australia: money.
Aside from sex, personal finance is the topic Australians would most like to avoid talking about, according to a survey commissioned last year by ME Bank. Over a quarter of the population said they'd rather not talk openly about the state of their savings, and 16 per cent said they wouldn't talk to anyone about it, not even their partners.
It could be that around 63 per cent of those questioned in the survey are worried about their money.
But further research around social attitudes towards money indicates a contributing factor could be the type of money up for discussion.
"Our society values and valorises self-made money, but it's much less comfortable with windfall money or inherited money," says Professor Michael Gilding, the Executive Dean of the Swinburne University Business and Law Faculty and a guest on this week's Insight. He has written about social attitudes towards money, and the experiences of those who have accumulated it.
Our society values and valorises self-made money, but it's much less comfortable with windfall money or inherited money.
"One of the things I noticed when I was interviewing people who made money themselves and people who made money through inheritance, was people who made money themselves through their own labour were very comfortable about talking about it ... and talked with great sense of pride," he tells Insight's Jenny Brockie.
"Whereas people who inherit money are more defensive, they feel much more uncomfortable."
He puts this down to the personal questions a windfall can raise: of self worth, life choices, position in society, around the meaning of life.
Angela* knows these feelings well. Appearing in anonymity on Insight, she was gifted an inheritance of $45,000 from her late grandfather and felt "immense guilt" about the sum.
"I felt like I didn't earn it," she says. "I always had quite strong values about earning my keep, always working really hard. My family background is pretty much working class so we never had a lot of money."
"When I found it was $45,000, I lost it completely and I had a nervous breakdown about a week later."
At the time she was working in a highly stressful job, in a workplace she didn't like.
"It suddenly meant that I could quit my job, I didn't like my job so why didn't I just leave? I felt like there were a lot of people relying on me at work at that point. I didn't want to let them down."
She also hadn't had much contact with her grandfather, adding to her guilt, and it was a surprise among her relatives to discover there was that much money in the family. Her brothers also received a portion, and by their own volition and their mothers' request, they didn't tell anybody about the inheritance.
Gilding says Angela's severe reaction was quite unusual, as inheritances are mostly expected windfalls, but sees a commonality in her desire not to spread the news.
Angela* discusses her inheritance on this week's Insight Source: Insight
"On the whole people keep it quiet," he says. "I think a basic principal of society is that we tend to hang out with people like ourselves ... One of the things about getting a whole lot of money is it actually changes your relationship with those around you and so it can actually be very disruptive of social relationships."
"There's a big taboo around money," continues Gilding, "and people find it really hard to deal with issues around inequality and differences in what you can expect in your life."
One of the things about getting a whole lot of money is it actually changes your relationship with those around you and so it can actually be very disruptive of social relationships.
But keeping quiet is not for everyone.
Vicki and Pete won $4 million in the lottery a few years ago, and their almost immediate reaction was to share the news.
"We actually contacted everybody, all our friends, family, and said you know, we're having a party at the bowls club," says Vicki, who is also a guest on Insight.
"We have very open with everybody about it."
If there is one thing people feel comfortable talking about, it's the things they'd like to spend money on, if they came into a windfall.
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*Pseudonym used
