Sometimes friendship and finance collide in ways that make your stomach drop. That's what happened when a Reddit user received an urgent request for a $50,000 loan from a friend who'd just experienced a fire.

The friend said she was "struggling" and needed the money to cover personal expenses and keep her business operational. Oh, and she needed an answer by the next day. No pressure.

The original poster shared the dilemma on the r/AmIOverreacting subreddit, explaining that she responded with a tentative "maybe" simply because she didn't know how to say no in the moment. But internally, alarm bells were ringing.

Why the Hesitation Ran Deep

"I don't like lending money," the poster wrote plainly. And she had good reason. Years earlier, just after college, she'd loaned a roommate $2,000 with an agreement that it would be repaid within a month. The money never came back. Worse, she eventually discovered the roommate had blocked her entirely.

That kind of experience leaves a mark, and it colored how she viewed this new request.

When Investments Become an Excuse

Here's where things get interesting. The friend wasn't exactly broke. She had money, but it was tied up in stocks. She didn't want to sell while the market was down, which meant her day-to-day usable cash was essentially nonexistent. There was also no clear repayment plan on the table.

According to the post, the original poster had actually advised her friend in the past to maintain cash reserves for emergencies. Now, facing a real emergency, the friend was turning to her instead of her own portfolio.

Lending $50,000 under those circumstances meant taking on both financial and personal risk. After thinking it through, the poster declined the loan and established a firm boundary.

The Internet Weighs In

Reddit didn't hold back. Commenters rallied around the decision with a mix of personal wisdom and hard-earned lessons.

"If OP loaned it — they would never repay. As time went on they would claim it was a gift. My father always told me never loan money to friends. If you do — only do it with the knowledge that you might never get it back," one commenter wrote.

Another echoed the sentiment: "My dad always said never lend money unless you are willing to lose the friendship or the money."

Several responses zeroed in on the friend's explanation that her money was tied up in investments. One user suggested keeping the response simple and direct: "Sorry I can't lend you the money. I know you don't want to, but I think you need to sell some of your stocks."

Others emphasized that the sheer size of the request made "no" the only reasonable answer.

"Fifty thousand dollars isn't help — it's a life-changing financial risk," one user pointed out. Another added, "You're not a private lender just because you saved responsibly. That's not how friendships work."

The consensus was clear: being a good friend doesn't mean becoming someone's bank, especially when they have assets they're simply unwilling to liquidate. Sometimes the kindest thing you can do is say no and let them figure out their own financial strategy.