Rich Kids...

[JayB]

"Why Rich Kids Don’t Stay Rich

Rich kids, we hear, have it all. Money. Connections. Top educations. Cars and clothes. For those who are part of what Warren Buffett calls “the Lucky Sperm Club,” life is supposedly one long shopping trip with an no-limits ATM card.

 

A really big play houseBut what if it’s not?

 

What if growing up rich actually has disadvantages? And what if rich kids’ penchant for spending — and their lack of experience at earning — catches up with them, and that unlimited ATM machine winds up empty? (Not to feel sorry for these people, just to point out a reality.)

 

That’s the premise behind my article in the Los Angeles Times today, which profiles a wealth-education camp designed to teach today’s rich kids how to manage their money. My conclusion is that despite all their supposed advantages, today’s rich kids have grown up in such bubbles of privilege that they’re not prepared for today’s increasingly competitive job market. They don’t make good investors, they don’t compete well for the top jobs, and they’re not hungry for success like kids who grow up in middle-class homes can be.

 

Eventually, I argue, their money will run out. And much of the inherited wealth in America will flow back to people who actually earn it — as it has throughout history. This is what makes wealth in America dynamic, rather than dynastic.

 

Some readers disagreed. One sent me a thoughtful email arguing that “the ultrawealthy are not stupid. They know their children. Some just fork over hundreds of millions to willing yet untrained hands, but I think most set up foundations or other mechanisms that will keep their name and children in the pink for generations to come. The very smartest and most family-oriented probably even invest in training their children to take the reins.”

 

In other words, rich parents don’t give their money to irresponsible kids. I’m sure this is true for some families. But in my experience, rich parents can’t help themselves when it comes to spoiling their kids, no matter how irresponsible those kids are with money. And those kids usually wind up squandering their money through bad investments, bad relationships or lavish shopping sprees.

 

Since there are no reliable data on this, we have to go by experience. What do you think? Will today’s rich kids stay rich, or wind up leaving the bulk of their fortunes to the rest of us?"

 

 

Apparently this article showed up on the radar of those under discussion and they've started to respond in real-time. Makes for some interesting reading:

 

Responses to the Post in the "WSJ Wealth Report"

 

"Most people without substantial wealth have not much more than a half baked opinion on what those with money, especially heirs, can go through. While the masses are all obsessed with those who seemlingly have it and yourselves lusting after it and generally deriding those who have it. Yet you still buy your lotto tickets hoping to win a million. This life is like a cruise liner, some get on and some get off and down the track it continues to happen. Just cause my folks (or maybe myself) booked me a ticket into a swankier cabin than those bunking on a lower deck certainly doesn’t mean too much if I go through the cruise without affinity or compassion for my fellow travellers regardless of which deck I’m camped on. Being a good steward of what you’ve got is key and if you have more you have a different set of challenges than those who perhaps don’t. And certainly after reading the ill-informed comments of many above and joe public in general to the wealthier in society it’s no wonder most can’t appreciate the secret challenges and pressures that come with created or inherited wealth. http://inheritance-project.com/ may give those interested to educate themselves some further insight. And to the rest of you I’m certainly not going to try."

 

:cry: :cry:

 

"i’ve had a bit of a lavish upbringing, complete with trips to Europe before I learned about the place in school, and vacations on jets and yachts but around high school I noticed my parents, neither a college graduate, were clueless about saving. I decided then that I didn’t want to be relying on them and decided to go college for finance. While I still live a spoiled lifestyle and party more than I should, I am doing what I can to be prepared when I finish college next spring."

 

"hat’s considered rich nowadays? I went to harvard-westlake– a high school that is generally for kids of the semi-wealthy. We are a competitive bunch!! So are all of the other prep league private schools. A MAJORITY of the students head off to ivy leagues, the rest go to top notch state schools like cal or UCLA. We have connections. We think we’re poor even when we’re rich. I feel sorry for kids who don’t have the same resources as we do– and thinking that rich kids will squander everything and not know how to compete in the real world is a fallacy that will generally work out to the rich kids’ advantage. don’t do it. the u.s. needs to take care of its middle class still!! the gap isn’t getting any smaller, I promise."

 

"You know, there are reasons why I think that some of these blog posts are beyond ridiculous: they tend to make judgments about rich people from the outside. Go ahead and do it, but know that there are rich kids out there who may have grown up with a nice life (some might say too nice), who are still grounded in reality, don’t have slaves who will fetch them coke and good lawyers at a moment’s notice, and work hard at jobs their parents didn’t get for them. I agree most heartily with the poster who suggested that good parenting produces good kids. If you indulge your children, of course they’ll end up like Paris, but if you teach your children respect for the rest of the world, spoiled or not, it will get through.

___

Also, to imply that rich kids should end up as “good investors” or to exhibit the same drive that the ancestor who created the wealth exhibited is an unfair projection. Many more poor people don’t manage money well (can we say credit card debt?) and exhibit no drive in their careers and are unprepared for the competitive job market.

_______

Suggesting that being rich should enable kids to acquire these traits is yet another reason this blog is driving me nuts. I understand that the purpose of these articles is to cut a window into the lives of the rich, but it just shows the ugly side of America’s fixation on money. Money doesn’t bring happiness. End of story. By sitting around and critiquing and judging and researching the lives of these people, who are such a small percentage of our world and whose lives no one could hope to figure out, the readers and writers do not do themselves a favor. Focus on your own family dynamics and your own giving and your own house and stay out of ours. Your children are no business of mine and I am none of yours."

Etc..

 

 

[Mal_Con]

Awww poor booboos. I've been rich and I've been poor and rich is better. Most well off folks are pretty responsible with their kids and try to gve them the best schools etc. Our kids have a lot but want more and use their brains to get it, they do not want a handout and take pride in their own efforts.