Reply to Growing up in the DC Wealth Bubble

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Op, I'll bite. I grew up the exact same way. I am in my early 30s and own a nice home  in Bethesda. Most, if not, all of my friends all own 1M + homes. Our conversations are so "first world problems" -- worrying about carried interest, tax rates, ways to save as much as possible, starting businesses, etc.

I was in private school from Preschool through college and pretty much hung out with similar people my whole life. It wasn't until I got in the working world (about a decade ago) when I realized how lucky I was.  People were shocked I had no debt, have visited 30 + countries, had parents still take the whole family on vacation. I did my community service growing and my parents entrenched giving back. For a 16yr old kid, that only goes so deep. Ultimately, your "normal" is who you hang out with.

I was definitely nowhere near the wealthiest of my friend group so I always compared myself to them. We didn't have a large beach home, we must not be rich. We didn't belong to a country club, we must not be rich. We worked all summer, many didn't, etc.

I think the DC area is a ridiculously wealthy area (even more so than some parts of CT and Boston) and we often times forget that even what DCUM calls "middle class" is so far ahead of 95% of our country. My wife is from a very wealthy family but she grew up in a smaller city and had a bit more perspective since she went to public school. She was shocked when we first started dating and saw how expensive everyone's clothes were, how much I gifted to friends for their weddings or baby showers, how much money I made..it was a bit surprising.

Odds are you won't change your lifestyle, and that's fine, but I do think instilling the idea in your children that what you have is not normal will go a long way.

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And yet, you conclude you were “lucky”? You don’t think there was any downside to that upbringing?

You may not know this since it’s your normal, but children of the upper class have higher levels of alcoholism, eating disorders, and anxiety than the National average. It’s not all “lucky.”[/quote]

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