Upper middle class people- why don’t you want your kids to live a life of leisure?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm lazy as hell and have found a career path that allows me to be in the top 2% (not quite top 1%) wrt to personal income. I have absolutely no problem with my kids lazing around as long as they can live comfortably. However, it's hard to do, and every couple of decades that professions/jobs where it is possible shift with the economy and technology

If you don't mind me asking, could you share a little about this career path? E.g. are you working in tech? Lol

[Anonymous]

I want my kids to know the feeling of working hard for something and achieving it. I want them to value things that are given to them. I'm not sure why this needs to be stated. You don't always value things which are always given to you.

I hope my children pick a career that they want to do regardless of the amount of work. I want them to value their education which I work hard to provide. I am hopeful that they will have more choices in life than I had because of their family's income but not use it as an excuse to not work hard or accomplish anything.

[Anonymous]

I want my kids to have the option to volunteer full-time or take really low paying jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UMC don't have SO much wealth that the next generation can just laze around. So they become professionals too.

that's the difference in the definition of UMC and UC. UC no longer has to work to support their lifestyle, UMC does. If think you are UMC and you can live your life style and funds your kids in the same lifestyle without working, you are actually UC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here- I plan to save a bunch for my daughter so she can have a more chill career and still be able to build wealth on her own. I hope she picks something she enjoys and can actually love life.

How will your daughter "build wealth on her own"? Do you have any idea or plan?

Not hard to build wealth when you have zero student loans or medical debt.

with a chill career in a non-profit it is unless you either marry a higher earner or live like a pauper. If you daughter has kids, marries a man with a similar salary she certainly won't be able to raise or launch her kids the same way you raised and launched her

[Anonymous]

I haven’t read the comments but there is a huge difference between a life of leisure, being part of the working rich, and being middle class. I think that for most people work leads to a more satisfying life. It takes a strong sense of purpose and dogged determination to lead a meaningful life when you don’t have to work. So I want my kids to work.

[Anonymous]

Incomes are so bifurcated now. It’s difficult to find a career with normal hours that pays enough to afford the UMC lifestyle. Yes, you may ultimately land a well-paying job with good hours, but getting there requires big sacrifices earlier on. Long gone are the days when kids could graduate from any college into a 40 hr/week career with a pension.

[Anonymous]

I assume you're aware of the phrase: "shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves" in three generation? https://www.forbes.com/sites/dennisjaffe/2019/01/28/the-shirtsleeves-to-shirtsleeves-curse-how-family-wealth-can-survive-it/?sh=209b61b86c8d

My first cousins are living proof of this. My uncle inherited a business worth $30-50 million from his father who founded it. My cousins got $5-$10 million a piece at 18 from their grandparents and have done very little with themselves in terms of life other than spend down their inheritance. They're not very happy either. Kind of like my uncle. It's my cousin's kids that are now downwardly mobile. Their relatively modest wealth has been spent and they have bad role models who lack a proper work ethic or connections to help them succeed. You're thinking too shortsightedly by giving your kids a "life of leisure" and screwing not only them and their motivation to positively contribute to society but also the next generation. I'd rather my kids inherit money later in life after they've accomplished things for themselves and developed a marketable skill set with the ability to pass that on to their own kids.

[Anonymous]

So that they can pass the wealth along to next generations.

It takes being in 5 income percentile income to afford a good education for DC and cover the college costs and save for retirement at the same time.

Our DC will not be able to do the same unless he is in high income profession. Doctors are high income.

[Anonymous]

I want my kids to lead happy, fulfilling lives. Not lives of leisure. There is nothing wrong with hard work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here- I plan to save a bunch for my daughter so she can have a more chill career and still be able to build wealth on her own. I hope she picks something she enjoys and can actually love life.

How will your daughter "build wealth on her own"? Do you have any idea or plan?

Not hard to build wealth when you have zero student loans or medical debt.

with a chill career in a non-profit it is unless you either marry a higher earner or live like a pauper. If you daughter has kids, marries a man with a similar salary she certainly won't be able to raise or launch her kids the same way you raised and launched her

I could live like a king on $60,000 year.

[Anonymous]

People that are given everything and don’t work are not happy.

[Anonymous]

Virtually no families have so much money that multiple generations don't need to work. Do you want your kids lazing around and spending all of the money you earned so their kids are forced to fend for themselves? Or do you want them to work and set a good example and add to the assets of the family as a whole?

[Anonymous]

Shirt sleeves to shirt sleeves in three generations.

Your children will laze around on your money and then THEIR children will be back to first base. I see this happening to my BIL. He’s taken the low pay low stress life and lives off the beneficence of his parents and his wife’s parents. Their kids will not have a safety net at all and lots of school debt. The cycle is real.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Virtually no families have so much money that multiple generations don't need to work. Do you want your kids lazing around and spending all of the money you earned so their kids are forced to fend for themselves? Or do you want them to work and set a good example and add to the assets of the family as a whole?

But is work supposed to be fundamentally meaningful for everyone?

And why do we need to accumulate assets?