What percentage of the population do you think has a trust fund?

[Anonymous]

About 30% of my EHS classmates had one. Typically 2-5 million, but there wer a few in the 30 million range. Old industry money from the late 1800s mostly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids don’t even know they have trust funds.

Same here. We don't plan to tell our kids until at the earliest, college.

+2

[Anonymous]

Of the general population? Tiny fraction of a percentage. Trust fund is not just inheriting some money its enough money to live on (maybe live somewhat modestly, but still to live on)

[Anonymous]

More than I thought, that's for sure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Probably about 1%. Think about it though, if 1% is “rich” I’m this country, but you live in an area where almost everyone is a 1%er, I will feel like everyone is a 1%er. So, it’s possible that everyone you sister knows does have a trust fund.

This. Particularly if you travel in certain professional circles in DC, there are a lot of people with under-the-radar family wealth. As someone mentioned upthread, most trust funds "only" have a few hundred thousand in them. That's not the kind of money that exempts you from working. So there's probably a ton of people in DC who have a trust fund or similar but still work in Big Law and consulting because they can't live off the trust. They can, however, use the trust to buy a home or put down a sizable downpayment, make investments, and other things.

It took me about a decade of living and working in DC to figure out that the reason I couldn't keep up with the spending habits of so many colleagues or friends from grad school is because, unlike me, they were not living/saving from their salary alone. It's embarrassing to say that, and of course I knew some people had family money, but for so long I just thought everyone was financing these fancy vacations and massive bar tabs on credit cards and was secretly judgmental. Turns out they could afford trips, clothes, and socializing that I could not because their family's funded their housing (and often also their vacations and wardrobes) even into their 30s. It was actually a relief when I realized it because I had previously thought that I was just missing some obvious way to stretch my income, like some investment strategy that magically netted a spare 50k a year or something. Nope.

Thanks, PP. You're right, it seems obvious in retrospect, but I've been going through a similar thing since we bought a house and it seems our neighbors have so much more than we do, and this helps to reaffirm that we're doing pretty much everything "right." In our case, it's really that we don't have nearly as high an income-- we can afford this house because we rent the basement, we have less wiggle room after the mortgage is paid, etc. But I do think part is that, while they probably don't have trust funds, a lot of them grew up with more money and thus at least got a down payment from their parents, or (sadly) an inheritance of six figures, which we have not. I always feel like I should be doing more-- not so much owning more things or going on nicer vacations-- but saving more for college and giving more to the PTA, neighborhood charities, etc. In fact, I do a lot of that, and maybe even more than average, but I can't do as much as some people, and it's not because I'm stingy or a spendthrift. I just... literally don't have as much money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids don’t even know they have trust funds.

Same here. We don't plan to tell our kids until at the earliest, college.

+2

I have a trust in excess of 10M. My kids do too. I think springing family wealth on them in college is irresponsible at best.

[Anonymous]

My husband and I did not, not even close. I used to tease my dad...'hey, where's my trust fund? ' and he would joke back 'you ungrateful little b*tch' . I have the same profession as my father did.

My kids will have a pretty good size trust fund. We own 2 expensive homes, etc. My dad used to say 'stinkin' rich kids' to me when I sent photos of a vacation. Or--'in my next life I want to come back as John and Will' ( real names protected).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My husband and I did not, not even close. I used to tease my dad...'hey, where's my trust fund? ' and he would joke back 'you ungrateful little b*tch' . I have the same profession as my father did.

My kids will have a pretty good size trust fund. We own 2 expensive homes, etc. My dad used to say 'stinkin' rich kids' to me when I sent photos of a vacation. Or--'in my next life I want to come back as John and Will' ( real names protected).

*when I sent photos of his grandkids

[Anonymous]

I went to college with the heir to the Snapple fortune. He was always buying absurdly expensive musical instruments. But you can't buy talent!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids don’t even know they have trust funds.

Same here. We don't plan to tell our kids until at the earliest, college.

+2

I have a trust in excess of 10M. My kids do too. I think springing family wealth on them in college is irresponsible at best.

Well, there's a difference between saying "we have money in a trust that we'll use to pay for your college - don't worry about tuition" and "You have a HUGE trust!" and "Here's that HUGE trust I just told you about five minutes ago." We will make sure our kids know not to worry about tuition, room, board, books, meals. They will have to budget for extras simply so they really learn how to do it when we're not there to hover over them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Less than 2% according to this -
https://www.thecut.com/2018/04/what-its-really-like-to-have-a-trust-fund.html

That story is wild...talking about how it wasn't that big of a trust fund but she got handed a check for $400k???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Less than 2% according to this -
https://www.thecut.com/2018/04/what-its-really-like-to-have-a-trust-fund.html

That story is wild...talking about how it wasn't that big of a trust fund but she got handed a check for $400k???

I would have guessed less than 1%, but 2% seems reasonable. Mostly young adults who can afford to live well in major cites. Outside major cities, you won't meet many.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids don’t even know they have trust funds.

Same here. We don't plan to tell our kids until at the earliest, college.

+2

I have a trust in excess of 10M. My kids do too. I think springing family wealth on them in college is irresponsible at best.

Well, there's a difference between saying "we have money in a trust that we'll use to pay for your college - don't worry about tuition" and "You have a HUGE trust!" and "Here's that HUGE trust I just told you about five minutes ago." We will make sure our kids know not to worry about tuition, room, board, books, meals. They will have to budget for extras simply so they really learn how to do it when we're not there to hover over them.

Yes, of course there’s a difference. I was responding to two people who used definitive language (dont, until at LEAST college) about kids “not even knowing”.

There is also a huge difference between saying the statements above, and saying “you have money in a trust but it’s a super secret amount” . That seems
....infantilizing, but more acceptable than playing “hide the trust fund” till your kids in their 20s.

[Anonymous]

If the median is about a quarter mil, these aren't life changing amounts for many.

[Anonymous]

I never even thought about real life people having trust funds, until I read DCUM and it seems like everyone claims to have one.