Billionairs and Education

[Anonymous]

Forbes last week posted their list of Billionaires. After scanning through more than I should have, I noticed that a large number of them were college drop outs and a decent amount never even finished high school. I noticed that this only was an occurrence in the "self made" billionaires and not the ones who inherited wealth. The ones who inherited wealth all finished at least a bachelors.
This brings me to something that I wonder about often in raising our children. I am 100% self made. I come from a very dysfunctional and financially unstable family. I never finished college (hardly finished high school), but still manage to bring in a healthy salary (as a sales person) and also made some very risky real speculative estate investments and dumped the properties in 2006, so I'm sitting pretty. I am definitely driven by my upbringing and value financial stability and strive to maintain it. My DH has a similar background (he finished school and was a mediocre student at best), but paid his entire way through waiting tables and accumulated no debt in the process, but literally sweated his way through college at restaurants.
Though I am doing my best to pass my work ethic onto my children, there is no way around it, my children have a charmed life. They will have college paid for, we follow the books on the best parenting, the best nutrition, and the best intellectual stimulation. Sometimes I think these things are a blessing and a curse. As wounds heal from adversity and struggles mount from just trying to "make it" these things oftentimes shape us for the better and even lead to greatness in some cases. I know that if I fail in life there is NO ONE to catch me. I have no inheritance and there is NO bail out for me, failure is not an option. This is a huge driver for me. Though my children will be independent adults, they will know in the back of their minds that their parents will never let them be homeless or destitute. There is something to be said about having a safety net, no matter how invisible. There is also a huge sense of pride that one gets from rebuilding your life from what should be a pile of ashes into something you can be proud of and know you made happen in spite of it all.

[Anonymous]

Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations...

[Anonymous]

SIL came from a family she thought was just a little more than middle class. She lived in a large house, but one that was inherited from grandparents, and she was sure her parents struggled to send all the children to college. All the kids had to work in the one of the family businesses (of which there were many) in order to have money for rent and food. Her parents never had nice German cars, and rarely, if ever, purchased new cars.

Once all the kids were gone and established their own lives and careers the parents went out and purchased a BMW and a Mercedes. They also revealed they were sitting on a pile of cash. The money is theirs, they worked for it, and they wanted their children to learn to work for what they had in life.

[Anonymous]

Just keep in mind that there are tons of variables that contribute into making successful people. You can argue the merits of higher education, street smarts, opportunity, strong work ethics, family name, inheritance, etc.

Curious...did the article comment on the level of happiness? Money sure can buy a lot of things, but not always a sound body and mind and happiness.

[Anonymous]

Many people have money, a huge house, a nanny, a housekeeper, fancy cars, high end appliances, and can buy anything they really want. Those things are easy - but happiness and real love or a sense of fullfillment is not. Focus on those things - they are the only things that can truly make you happy. Some people wish they were more in love with my husband, some people wish they had a career or vocation they were passionate about, some people wish they had a better relationship with their parents, some people wish they felt better about themselves......count your blessings if you have strong relationships and you love what you do.......Money does not buy happiness - in fact, sometimes it takes it away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many people have money, a huge house, a nanny, a housekeeper, fancy cars, high end appliances, and can buy anything they really want. Those things are easy - but happiness and real love or a sense of fullfillment is not. Focus on those things - they are the only things that can truly make you happy. Some people wish they were more in love with my husband, some people wish they had a career or vocation they were passionate about, some people wish they had a better relationship with their parents, some people wish they felt better about themselves......count your blessings if you have strong relationships and you love what you do.......Money does not buy happiness - in fact, sometimes it takes it away.

Wow, this is weird - I could swear that I posted this exact comment on another thread a few months ago........did you cut and paste this from another thread?

[Anonymous]

I don't know any billionaires, but all the millionaires I know have a high school education, max. One has trouble reading and writing. Their kids are a mess. Watch that second generation carefully -- we do tend to spoil them rotten...

[Anonymous]

If your children will likely inherit wealth, maybe your goal should not be instilling a work ethic so much as instilling a sense of giving and charity.

Let's face it, if they know the family has money, they will never have that same motivation that you had. But if you raise them to appreciate what they have, appreciate that others are not so fortunate, and recognize that they can be agents of good for the community and people around them, then they'll be okay. Even if they one day find themselves in financial trouble, they will have the character to deal with it. (and the education, parental role-modeling, etc.)

I don't think the actual habits or comforts of a privileged life are the problem. It's the sense of entitlement that too often accompanies it.

[Anonymous]

OP here.

I did not comment on happiness b/c the list of billionaires only states their worth, age, marital status, industry, and education level.

I have no idea if they are happy or not and i'm not sure this has anything to do with education or wealth.

I'm not worried about doing my best to encourage my children to pursue their dreams, be confident, or charitable (we already are a foster family, so helping others is standard practice in our home). I'm just wondering if the shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in 3 generations will apply to these children with charmed lives-thanks to the poster who reminded us of this old saying.

[Anonymous]

I frequently say to my 9 yr old son when tucking him in bed is that "Your happiness is my top priority and there is nothing more important in life."