Anyone here grow up wealthy or well off but have not surpassed parents/grandparents/GG Parents wealth or earnings?

[Anonymous]

I’m a millennial with Baby Boomer parents. You could say I grew up well off/wealthy, but not super wealthy. One parent came from generational wealth, while the other grew up poor, but had a mixed bag in terms of their extended family (for instance, one parent had a well off uncle and some extended family that was successful/comfirtable).

I have never earned as much money as my dad. He’s the one who comes from generational wealth and through continued hard work earns millions a year. My mom had a more normal job. Although my parents never made me feel bad, and I’m highly successful by most standards, I don’t feel as successful for that reason.

Has anyone else grown up well off but not quite surpassed building greater generational wealth than what was built for you.

[Anonymous]

Yes, it’s hard for it not to impact your self esteem. But then, when I focus on helping others in my non-work efforts (teach Sunday school, give money to charity, volunteer or sign up for some good thing), my self esteem goes back up. A life worth living is not just about money, and your parents gave you flexibility. If could be your father works hard to fill a void. Have the conversations you need to have with yourself, your parents, and the higher power.

[Anonymous]

Yep. I grew up UMC. I’m … bordering on middle class as an adult. That’s just how life works out sometimes.

[Anonymous]

Uh, yeah, probably the majority of all such people have not surpassed their parents. Haven't you heard that we're the first generation not to do better than our parents? That applies to all income brackets.

Neither me nor my three siblings have even matched our dad's income—and he only made like $250K/year, not millions. However, one sister is married to a high-earner and the other is dating a high-earmer (~$400K). Sucks that women can marry their way into wealth but men have to earn it.

[Anonymous]

I am an anomaly i guess. Dad made high six figures in sales for his career, I am over $1M now in my late 30s.

It's all about career choice

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a millennial with Baby Boomer parents. You could say I grew up well off/wealthy, but not super wealthy. One parent came from generational wealth, while the other grew up poor, but had a mixed bag in terms of their extended family (for instance, one parent had a well off uncle and some extended family that was successful/comfirtable).

I have never earned as much money as my dad. He’s the one who comes from generational wealth and through continued hard work earns millions a year. My mom had a more normal job. Although my parents never made me feel bad, and I’m highly successful by most standards, I don’t feel as successful for that reason.

Has anyone else grown up well off but not quite surpassed building greater generational wealth than what was built for you.

Your dad earns millions...so, not really understanding why you would think you would earn more unless you are saying you are a BigLaw partner or an investment banking managing director, but aren't earning.

At the extreme, it's not as though Jeff Bezos' kids will ever earn anything truly on their own that even comes within 1% of what their father makes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Uh, yeah, probably the majority of all such people have not surpassed their parents. Haven't you heard that we're the first generation not to do better than our parents? That applies to all income brackets.

Neither me nor my three siblings have even matched our dad's income—and he only made like $250K/year, not millions. However, one sister is married to a high-earner and the other is dating a high-earmer (~$400K). Sucks that women can marry their way into wealth but men have to earn it.

The flip side of that coin is that there’s almost always an unhealthy power dynamic between spouses when one spouse vastly outearns or is the sole provider of the other.

Also, let’s not forget that more women go to college than men now, and the wage gap may shrink, adjusting for time out of the workforce for maternity leave.

[Anonymous]

My parents definitely have done better than me - I don't feel bad about it (they made different career choices and came of age when you could buy a nice house for $40k!).

I do wish I had more of the security that they enjoy, never even mind the luxury. Still I'm incredibly grateful that we're doing as well as we are - which is still better than like 95% of Americans, so keep some perspective!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Uh, yeah, probably the majority of all such people have not surpassed their parents. Haven't you heard that we're the first generation not to do better than our parents? That applies to all income brackets.

Neither me nor my three siblings have even matched our dad's income—and he only made like $250K/year, not millions. However, one sister is married to a high-earner and the other is dating a high-earmer (~$400K). Sucks that women can marry their way into wealth but men have to earn it.

Uh, men marry into wealth all the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My parents definitely have done better than me - I don't feel bad about it (they made different career choices and came of age when you could buy a nice house for $40k!).

I do wish I had more of the security that they enjoy, never even mind the luxury. Still I'm incredibly grateful that we're doing as well as we are - which is still better than like 95% of Americans, so keep some perspective!

^ Just to add: I did used to get a lot more upset with them when I was drowning in student loans and they'd say, oh yes, we had loans, too, we understand. They came out owing something like $2000. I came out owing $160k. That tone deafness used to really p*** me off. I know my sister gets very upset with them over comments like that, too. But luckily the loans are paid off now, and even if I haven't really made good on my career promise I'm married to someone who to me earns a very nice salary (poverty wages by DCUM standards - but very nice compared to most Americans). Anyway - yeah. We're objectively doing just fine in life, knock wood a million times - but my parents did much better, and good for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a millennial with Baby Boomer parents. You could say I grew up well off/wealthy, but not super wealthy. One parent came from generational wealth, while the other grew up poor, but had a mixed bag in terms of their extended family (for instance, one parent had a well off uncle and some extended family that was successful/comfirtable).

I have never earned as much money as my dad. He’s the one who comes from generational wealth and through continued hard work earns millions a year. My mom had a more normal job. Although my parents never made me feel bad, and I’m highly successful by most standards, I don’t feel as successful for that reason.

Has anyone else grown up well off but not quite surpassed building greater generational wealth than what was built for you.

Speaking as someone who is building generational wealth for her children, DH and I don’t expect our kids to outearn us. Our hope is that our money will give our kids the opportunity to pursue careers that fulfill them or allow them to spend more time with their families. We are also instilling in them our family values, which include hard work, financial responsibility/prudence and investment in the community/charity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a millennial with Baby Boomer parents. You could say I grew up well off/wealthy, but not super wealthy. One parent came from generational wealth, while the other grew up poor, but had a mixed bag in terms of their extended family (for instance, one parent had a well off uncle and some extended family that was successful/comfirtable).

I have never earned as much money as my dad. He’s the one who comes from generational wealth and through continued hard work earns millions a year. My mom had a more normal job. Although my parents never made me feel bad, and I’m highly successful by most standards, I don’t feel as successful for that reason.

Has anyone else grown up well off but not quite surpassed building greater generational wealth than what was built for you.

We grew up poor, and worked our way to UHNW by 50 with more likely to come. I highly doubt our kids will out earn us. They have good jobs and love what they do. They prefer to have a better quality of life/work balance. And lucky for them, they can manage that because we already gift them for extras.
But they have great jobs and are on a good career path, they just know they don't have to work 80 hour+ weeks to "get ahead".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Uh, yeah, probably the majority of all such people have not surpassed their parents. Haven't you heard that we're the first generation not to do better than our parents? That applies to all income brackets.

Neither me nor my three siblings have even matched our dad's income—and he only made like $250K/year, not millions. However, one sister is married to a high-earner and the other is dating a high-earmer (~$400K). Sucks that women can marry their way into wealth but men have to earn it.

Men can also marry into it. I know 5+ couples where the woman is the higher earner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Uh, yeah, probably the majority of all such people have not surpassed their parents. Haven't you heard that we're the first generation not to do better than our parents? That applies to all income brackets.

Neither me nor my three siblings have even matched our dad's income—and he only made like $250K/year, not millions. However, one sister is married to a high-earner and the other is dating a high-earmer (~$400K). Sucks that women can marry their way into wealth but men have to earn it.

The flip side of that coin is that there’s almost always an unhealthy power dynamic between spouses when one spouse vastly outearns or is the sole provider of the other.

Also, let’s not forget that more women go to college than men now, and the wage gap may shrink, adjusting for time out of the workforce for maternity leave.

No there is not an "unhealthy power dynamic" I'm the SAHP/retired spouse of a High earner. They actually appreciate and recognize all the work I have done over the years, that makes their life easier. They were in the C suite by mid 30s, and CEO by early 40s at companies under 2K employees. All but 2 of the men in the Exec teams over the years have wives who don't work. 5 of the women are DINKS (and will stay that way) and the other 2 women have SAHD once they had kids. Because it's hard to get to that level and maintain it without some strong support at home. You either have it with a spouse or you hire a full time nanny or two (nanny/housekeeper/etc) to manage the home front.

Then again, when I quit to be SAHP, our incomes were similar (making 6 figures in late 1990s at age 30). So we were both on paths to being high earners. So that may have something to do with it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a millennial with Baby Boomer parents. You could say I grew up well off/wealthy, but not super wealthy. One parent came from generational wealth, while the other grew up poor, but had a mixed bag in terms of their extended family (for instance, one parent had a well off uncle and some extended family that was successful/comfirtable).

I have never earned as much money as my dad. He’s the one who comes from generational wealth and through continued hard work earns millions a year. My mom had a more normal job. Although my parents never made me feel bad, and I’m highly successful by most standards, I don’t feel as successful for that reason.

Has anyone else grown up well off but not quite surpassed building greater generational wealth than what was built for you.

Speaking as someone who is building generational wealth for her children, DH and I don’t expect our kids to outearn us. Our hope is that our money will give our kids the opportunity to pursue careers that fulfill them or allow them to spend more time with their families. We are also instilling in them our family values, which include hard work, financial responsibility/prudence and investment in the community/charity.

This ^^^^

Our kids are expected to have careers. But they know $$$ is there if they choose a meaningful "not as high paying path" so they can have a quality of life. Extra for a home down payment, so they can live closer to work, so higher quality of life when you don't have a 45 min commute each way and are still in excellent school district (or have private schools paid for by us). They continue to do charity work (in their 20s) and invest in their communities. But they also work hard at their careers and don't take any of it for granted.