I Will Never Tell My Children We Have some Money

Although we're not super rich nor are our bank accounts ultra-fat (we are doing ok - as therapists, how much can we make man). I know we will do even better in the near future as we continue to hustle, save aggressively and invest prudently yet aggressively.

But I've seen quite a fair share of children of families whose parents have some/lots of wealth who have decided that they don't or won't work because they THINK that they don't need to.

Maybe they were told by their parents, or maybe they see/think that they're rich already, so what's the point of working? Or maybe no one told them.

Personally and professionally, this behavior (or lack of) both irks and disgusts me. Maybe because we've always been strugglers and go-getters who had to hustle to get to where we are and for what we need, and then more.

Regardless, this behavior isn't healthy, because we humans need a reason(s) to excel and do what we do.

And that's why people like Tony Robbins in his research, found that people with LESS resources become successful by increasing their resourcefulness; and that people with more resources, perceived or real, become less successful because they become less resourceful by thinking/believing that they have little to no reason to be successful or driven.

This is the core reason why I will not give my children a lump sum of inheritance, and I will tell them openly that they need to earn their own keep - it is this that I believe and hope that they will find something meaningful that they will both enjoy doing and earning good profit from.

What some billionaires are saying about not giving their children wealth

  • Mark Zuckerberg and wife gave 99% of their wealth (about $45 billion) to Chan Zuckerberg Foundation.
  • Bill Gates plans to give their children a miniscule amount as "it will mean they have to find their own way." Bill believes it will compel them to rely on themselves. "It's not a favor to kids to have them have huge sums of wealth," as "it distorts anything they might do, creating their own path."
  • Chuck Feeney, founder of Duty Free, was once worth $8 billion, but has been quietly donating most of his wealth away, and is now left with $2 million. His daughter Leslie Feeney said "it is eccentric, but he sheltered us from people using the money to treat us differently," and that "made us normal people."
  • Warren Buffett, currently net worth $77 billion, said he wants to leave his kids $2 billion each only - "'enough money so that they would feel they could do anything, but not so much that they could do nothing.''
  • Michael Bloomberg is leaving his $50 billion to philanthropy organizations. He says "if you want to do something for your children and show how much you love them, the single best thing — by far — is to support organizations that will create a better world for them and their children."
  • Andrew Webber, most noted for Phantom of the Opera and Cats, worth $1 billion says that he won't be giving anything to his children. He said "I don't believe in inherited money at all," and "I am not in favor of children suddenly finding a lot of money coming their way because then they have no incentive to work. So I will give them a start in life but they ain't going to end up owning [my company]."

We don't have THAT much money...and though I think it'd be fun to make billions by creating great value for the world. (I'm striving to achieve personal net worth of $5-10 million).

...but even when we're worth lots, I don't think and still stand by the fact that I won't leave anything for our children - they HAVE to find their own way, and I don't want wealth to be a crutch to their personal growth either by them decreasing their resourceful or because others treat them differently.

They need to struggle, live and grow as normal people.

I want and expect my children to increase in problem solving, resourcefulness and become useful and a positive factor in this world.

They definitely won't do so by being complacent, nor by thinking they don't have to.

Ugh.

But I will teach and show them the immense benefits of

  • learning to enjoy learning and applying learning
  • aggressive savings
  • aggressive investing
  • entrepreneurship and hustling.

How far they want to go or not - it's their choice.

Where to next?

  1. Head to Home Page

  2. Read the Core Articles, Popular Articles and my 21 Days To Financial Makeover

  3. Contact me by email at (even just to say hi) nigel@nigelchua.com

  4. See the latest articles and updates at the blog

  5. Check out all the resources and tools I use

  6. See my top two resources for online business below: Wealthy Affiliate (left) and Solo Build It (right) - both have very specific strengths and functions

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