its not always wabout working hard bro, its about working smart . just my 0.02$

 

I've earned everything I have, and I firmly believe that you get what you earn. I know people who have been handed everything they have and it seems like 50% turn out okay, and 50% are lazy bums. The way I see it, if I turned out okay, why can't I try to emulate the environment I grew up in for my own child? That being said, I don't have kids yet and i'm sure my outlook could change when I do...

 

this begs the question, what is the ultimate multi-generational goal of a family? is it to just have enough so that the descendants can just work and do the same crap that the earlier generations had to, but have less pressure?

 

I think i would like my kids to succeed on their own. I can pay for college and an okay car or two while they are in school, but then when they are out I would think i would treat to dinners, maybe a nice vacation but that is about it.?

Once you start giving $ away it would be extremely hard to reel back in.

My boss has a step daughter who is a $ grabber.... he will never (NEVER) get her to be self sufficient.... in her mind, why should she? She can always get bailed out by him and his wife....

Of course what do the parents do with their accumulating wealth? Eventually it will go to the kids....

 

my parents live pretty comfortably but my parents never just handed me anything. my mom gets heated if she even thinks i'm going to ask for something. they're supportive of me, but they just force me to be extremely independent.

my younger sister on the other hand is 18... and only got her 1st job 2 weeks ago. my parents essentially gave her their 03 xterra. it's a gas hog and she skips school and drives around in it all day. when it runs out of gas she just uses my parent's gas card.

my parents give her $70 every few weeks so she can get her roots done on her fake blonde hair. ugh... she's absolutely spoiled.

but i ended up being the over-achiever... my sister is getting her GED this year, after that i worry about what she's going to do with her life. the saddest thing about it is that i don't even think SHE wonders about her future. she just assumes everything will be taken care of for her... just like it has been all her life.

sometimes i'm jealous and resentful, sometimes i'm glad my parents were so hard on me.

 

It's interesting, I think the ultimate goal is to give the kid things not so that their life is easy to the point of not doing anything, but rather easier in order to be able to achieve.

For instance, my dad was a dirt poor Indian village boy who happened to be brilliant. He worked for everything he has, and he worked very hard at everything.

His reasons were for me to have opportunities:

He bought me nice things but also taught me the value of money.

Due to the fruits of his hard work I was able to get an education without having to worry about working to pay for it or to pay for living while I was getting educated. It allowed me to concentrate to achieve my goals. Without him I'd never have gotten where I am.

The problem arises when the kids take advantage of this and use it for the wrong reasons and become useless wastes.

That is the great thing about this country. If you are nobody and have nothing, you can still become great.

 

it becomes a dubious problem cuz what one person think is a worthy use of life (ie achieving, accomplishing things, money, title, status), another could think of it as an illusionary waste of time.

 

How so, happy?

 

Well lucky for me, my mom and relatives have never thought I was good enough to be where I am today, so all I needed was the support of my dad, brother and my boyfriend who's also my best friend.

My dad has always wanted me to just finish my schooling at a young age since he knows the older you are, the more distracted you become with life in general.

So as I was growing up, my goal was to be done all schooling by the time I turned 21 which I did, have my own business, which I do and find a great job before I turn 25, which I have and I'm only 10 days short of being 23.

Yes I would say that my life has been pretty fortunate but I had to work for everything I have.

My parents and relatives were the very last people to know I bought my car. Since I was always very responsible with my money, getting a car was totally out of character and I haven't looked back since. I love MY01 Silverstone and I love how I've worked my tail off to have all the great things in my life.

 

Like you, I am very lucky to have a brilliant dad. Our family immigrated to the US 13 years ago when I was only 6 and both my parents worked 12 hour days, 7 days a week at a sweat shop so that my sister and I can have a better life. When I turned 13, my dad started his own chinese restaurant. And because he does not speak english, I have been helping him run the restaurant ever since then. My dad always told me that if I want something bad, I would have to earn it myself. I learned so much from him about running business that I started my own ebay business at age 15 and was making a killing. I was making more money than some adults I knew. On a good month, I would make about five grand and two grand on a bad month. And that was at the age of 15!! When I turned 16, I was able to buy a brand new Civic with straight up cash. And a brand new S2000 at age 17, all without my dad's help, even though he always want to help me pay for rent and food. So I guess I have my good life today is all because of my dad teaching me so much and my mom always supporting me regardless of what I decide to do. I wouldnt have what I have today if it was not for them. Thank you mom and dad...