If you are rich, not just upper middle class

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have 25M, but our HHI is not high. The millions came because we were lucky/savvy in the stock market when we were young, and now we're older.

Our kids know how much we have, and they are preparing for careers in case everything goes south. But our goal is to build family wealth and our kids, having lived a relatively frugal lifestyle like us, will try to build on that for future generations as well.

Me again. Honestly, I feel your question would be valid if we were talking 100M and above. But with our 25M, I don't think our kids can plan on not working.

Agree, especially if you have multiple kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am part of a large extended family with significant wealth from three generations ago.

I would say that some branches of descendants are more successful than others which suggests some parenting component but there are also huge ranges within siblings.

I don’t think substance abuse or major periods of joblessness come from wealth. Wealth might make some of them last longer or be less damaging. It’s hard to say.

If you studied it, I doubt descendants of middle class families and wealthy ones would have very different batting averages than after a few generations.

My family passes down a family business through all male lines. There's definitely a difference, wealth-wise after even one generation between the boys' and girls' families.

That’s ridiculous. So the daughters just get screwed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
I am part of a large extended family with significant wealth from three generations ago.

I would say that some branches of descendants are more successful than others which suggests some parenting component but there are also huge ranges within siblings.

I don’t think substance abuse or major periods of joblessness come from wealth. Wealth might make some of them last longer or be less damaging. It’s hard to say.

If you studied it, I doubt descendants of middle class families and wealthy ones would have very different batting averages than after a few generations.


My family passes down a family business through all male lines. There's definitely a difference, wealth-wise after even one generation between the boys' and girls' families.

Do the siblings ever get together for family events? It seems like a good way to split up the family.

[Anonymous]

Our child knows that they need to work, but they also know that they will have a security net and possibly a down payment or house.

But they need to work. It's not healthy to live without purpose or modesty. We live like we are rich: private school, summer home, country club. But our child has no idea that we have $40 million dollars. They are even kind of clueless about the kind of money it takes to live the life they are living now. I worry that they are going to go to college and come off as totally out of touch and naive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm poor and my kids will have an option to not work. Ofcourse I want them to work, and they most likely will. I was abused at work for years. I made sure my kids can walk out if this ever happened to them. We are at this point in life that they can easily do that and just manage family money.
Not at 8 figures, but money is growing way faster than we can spend.

You think less than 8 figures is enough for multiple kids to sit around and "manage family money?" Uh. I guess if you want to live like you are poor...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hoping to retire at 55 with $40 million or so. That will continue to grow after that. Only have one child. I couldn't care less whether she works or not. Her choice. But I know she will because that's her personality. She doesn't seem the type to do nothing. She's only in high school, but you can get that sense at this point.

My family was wealthy with a TRUST. Only 1 of the 4 children did anything with their life. Do not give your kids just enough to exist, that may be their default. Make them work.

[Anonymous]

Of course they will have to work. I’m not planning to leave all my money to charity but I don’t want my kids to turn out as vapid wastrels. They are expected to have a career or trade and be capable of standing on their own feet before they see any substantial gifts from us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have 25M, but our HHI is not high. The millions came because we were lucky/savvy in the stock market when we were young, and now we're older.

Our kids know how much we have, and they are preparing for careers in case everything goes south. But our goal is to build family wealth and our kids, having lived a relatively frugal lifestyle like us, will try to build on that for future generations as well.

Me again. Honestly, I feel your question would be valid if we were talking 100M and above. But with our 25M, I don't think our kids can plan on not working.

This is just emblematic of the tendency of people on this board (in the US?) to think it's never enough. Unless you spend a hefty portion, your kids can live off of the earnings from 25 million.

PP you replied to. No, I know they can't, because we spend our dividends and it's not a lot. That's because we deliberately chose high tech stock for growth, not Dividend Kings that generate large dividends. Our high tech stocks do not generate much in dividends.

And since we want to preserve the capital, and try to keep it at high risk for maximum growth potential, we're not going to sell our Apple and Netflix stocks for Coca-Cola or Hormel, you know. We invested because we believed in the companies we selected and we like high tech. This is what we know. I'll be dammed if I owe my fortune to an unhealthy fizzy drink But I love Apple products and I've been a happy user of Netflix ever since its mail-in DVD service, so I want to own stock in those ventures. Same for Amazon or Alphabet (Google). I only buy stocks from companies that I value and which have made my life easier.

So you like to pick stocks, got rich from it, and your strategy is to go for companies you feel an emotional connection with and whose products you enjoy?

Somehow I think you’re lying because that’s a dumb AF strategy, or you got very lucky playing the stock slot machine.

Did you happen to hold Netflix while the stock dropped 75% in 2021? Your net worth must be insanely volatile

[Anonymous]

My wife is set to inherit a boatload of money from her parents. Her parents sold their business in the mid 90s for 85M. Over the years, they have tried to manipulate some of her life decisions by suggesting it will impact her inheritance. She ignored them and just told them she will plan as if she is not getting one dime of the inheritance.

We have been fortunate over our careers to make a significant amount of money. They finally realized about ten years ago that this type of manipulation would not work. It has actually made the relationship healthier.