If you had rich parents, would that change your career plans?

Consider two situations:
a) Your parents have 8 figure net worth
b) Same as A, but they build their wealth from being serial entrepreneurs

Assume that parents are willing to invest/support you if you offer sensible business/investment opportunities. Also, they would be willing to mentor you and would let you work in family business. They also have extensive network in the local region.

Would this impact the career decisions you make?

 

The reason most people are on this forum is that they WANT to get the opportunities that a kid like that gets handed to him on a silver platter. My gut tells me that if I have those same opportunities without the pain and effort, then I would take it happily.

Meh.

 
Best Response

Well let's see here. If they were in the mid 9 figure range and I could just have all that money when they croak, it definitely would. I'd just take a ton of wealth management type classes and learn how to manage the fortune so I can live like a rich bum loser......

In all seriousness, come on. Maybe I'm wrong to speak for everyone else, but after 2-3 months of not working, you start to get a little bit stir-crazy. And everyone knows that working in a job you hate is worse than anything except marrying a bitch you can't stand. So again, maybe it's just me, but the money isn't what dictates your career path at the end of the day, so long as it's enough money to live reasonably well. Obviously if you're passion is cleaning the floor of the school cafeteria you might still forego becoming a janitor because you don't get paid much... but for the most part I don't think some inheritance is going to dictate your career trajectory for the reasonable person at least.

I hate victims who respect their executioners
 
BlackHat:
Well let's see here. If they were in the mid 9 figure range and I could just have all that money when they croak, it definitely would. I'd just take a ton of wealth management type classes and learn how to manage the fortune so I can live like a rich bum loser......

In all seriousness, come on. Maybe I'm wrong to speak for everyone else, but after 2-3 months of not working, you start to get a little bit stir-crazy. And everyone knows that working in a job you hate is worse than anything except marrying a bitch you can't stand. So again, maybe it's just me, but the money isn't what dictates your career path at the end of the day, so long as it's enough money to live reasonably well. Obviously if you're passion is cleaning the floor of the school cafeteria you might still forego becoming a janitor because you don't get paid much... but for the most part I don't think some inheritance is going to dictate your career trajectory for the reasonable person at least.

I see your point of view. But correct me if I'm wrong, I think OP probably meant another career path that you would have more interest in.

If that were me, I would probably open up a coffee shop/breakfast diner and open up an art shop or photography business (weddings,parties, etc...)

 

I don't know if I would want to sponge off my parents or not. It seems like that would come with all sorts of strings that I wouldn't want to deal with, especially with a family as crazy as mine. I'll never know for sure what I would do in that situation, because my parents never had money like that.

 

I guess I understand it in that case. If money was no object I'd probably be a hunter/fisherman and total hermit somewhere in Canada or something. So if I look at it that way rather than the "living off my parents" way, I can definitely see it changing what I do.

I hate victims who respect their executioners
 

One of my parents co-founded a F500 company, and neither of them work now, but that hasn't changed anything for me. I don't think I could live with myself if I just coasted through life. Where's the fun in that?

 
adapt or die:
I would still be doing the exactly same thing which is whatever I want

Beautifully said!

I had a flair for languages. But I soon discovered that what talks best is dollars, dinars, drachmas, rubles, rupees and pounds fucking sterling.
 

I would hope that with my parent's wealth would come immense networking opportunities that they could help me with.

Honestly, if my parents could shoot me into a bb ib firm, or something else like investment management I would rather take those career opportunities than live off their money.

Besides, you'd get their money anyway once they die. Why not work hard and build your own wealth up, and then by the time they pass away you'd be good for retirement?

 

If we're talking on the mid to higher side of 8 figures then yes, this would absolutely change what I do. $10 million net worth isn't really all that much, unless of course they had that $10 million when they died and you're an only child or something.

There are plenty of really interesting jobs that I would love to try that wouldn't really set me up on a path for a lucrative career. Also, if my family really had that kind of money, I would probably try to go into politics.

Edit: there is a difference between your parents having 8 figure net worth right now vs. you inheriting 8 figures. The latter would make me much more likely to pursue a different career path.

Hi, Eric Stratton, rush chairman, damn glad to meet you.
 
Otter.:
If we're talking on the mid to higher side of 8 figures then yes, this would absolutely change what I do. $10 million net worth isn't really all that much, unless of course they had that $10 million when they died and you're an only child or something.

There are plenty of really interesting jobs that I would love to try that wouldn't really set me up on a path for a lucrative career. Also, if my family really had that kind of money, I would probably try to go into politics.

Edit: there is a difference between your parents having 8 figure net worth right now vs. you inheriting 8 figures. The latter would make me much more likely to pursue a different career path.

That might be harder than you expected. (Relative) wealth was a disadvantage in the last general election. An association to Wall Street or the financial sector was absolutely toxic in the last general election.

 
BTbanker:
You guys are right; 8 figs is nothing. I'm sure you'll blow right past the $90,000,000 mark just after your analyst stints.

I just mean that if your parents have a net worth of 10-15 million, they die, you have 2-3 siblings, that's 2.5-5 million pre-tax per kid. Wonderful, don't get me wrong, but not enough to significantly alter your need to work or anything like that.

Hi, Eric Stratton, rush chairman, damn glad to meet you.
 
BTbanker:
You guys are right; 8 figs is nothing. I'm sure you'll blow right past the $90,000,000 mark just after your analyst stints.
I think people seriously underestimate how difficult it is to accumulate a lot of money. I know plenty of people who make/made 7 figures per year who literally have a negative net worth. It's easy to ratchet up your spending level to your income and an absolutely horrible thing to do for your psyche.
 
SirTradesaLot:
BTbanker:
You guys are right; 8 figs is nothing. I'm sure you'll blow right past the $90,000,000 mark just after your analyst stints.
I think people seriously underestimate how difficult it is to accumulate a lot of money. I know plenty of people who make/made 7 figures per year who literally have a negative net worth. It's easy to ratchet up your spending level to your income and an absolutely horrible thing to do for your psyche.
I think spending problems stem from getting that first taste of luxury. After that, it's just too damn hard to go back, and it gets progressively worse as your pay increases.
 

I have parents with their own company making 7 figures/year easily since they are probably around 35 and net worth should be in 8 figures. I am not saying this to brag or anything and I am sure there are so many more people that are richer than my parents.

What I am trying to get at is that despite my parents' wealth I am still busting my balls for investment banking. It's my mentality that only douchebag useless sons that would only count on their dad's inheritance to live off of. I feel like if I have parents that have wealth and status I have a sense of obligation to continue this tradition. I don't want to be the failure that wastes all the money and make the next generation suffer. Spending your parents' money at an older age feels like without my parents, I would be nothing.

 

In a similar situation and agree 100%. I have friends who are content to be fucktards and live off their parents money but they'll probably die broke. I bust my ass in school to be the best that I can. Yes I will get an internship freshman year at college at a BB because the guy id be working with manages mine/my parents money. Yes networking is easier when I say oh xyz, hes your boss? hes one of my dads good friends, etc. But

Also personally i could care less how much money you have if you didnt earn it yourself. Inheritance isn't something I consider a sign of a talented person, I think it makes people bums. I hold someone who busts their ass and has a networth of 5m way higher than someone who inherited 20m. I could probably live extremely comfortably by taking a stupid job and just getting money from my parents but they know I would never do that because I want to be successful and make the money in my own right.

TL;DR: Rich parents opens doors, you still have to go through them and excel.

 

I would probably be a teacher or volunteer fire fighter and spend my summers in Alaska fishing for whales (you can fish for whales with enough money, just bribe people) and shooting polar bears and other awesome stuff like that.

This to all my hatin' folks seeing me getting guac right now..
 

TBH, if my parents had mid-high 8 digits net worth, I would probably become a serial entrepreneur. I love learning about different businesses and going on new adventures, but I'm also really risk-averse. If money weren't an object, I wouldn't have to worry about the financial consequences of a failed venture.

In the meantime, I'll stick to my ER --> corporate strategy plan. Maybe one day I'll start my own business.

 

Allow me to state the obvious in claiming it's largely up to your parents/upbringing to decide your views on the value of money. I'm not sure if my rents are quite sitting on 8 figures, but it's certainly enough that my siblings and I "don't have to worry about money," or whatever that absurd platitude people use to justify their lack of discipline and reasonableness as a human is. But acquiescing to life and its challenges because I come from money has simply never been an option. I'm not getting a dollar of their money for all I know, but even if I was set to inherit millions tomorrow, there's not a chance in hell I'd know about it because that simply shouldn't be a determining factor in one's career goals. A lot of very successful people come from money, few from unconditional trust fund money.

Conversely, everyone has that friend--or several--whose parents hit it big and want the world to know, raising their kids to serve little purpose aside from putting their family's wealth on display. Sometimes these kids work hard to distance themselves from the superficiality and make a name for themselves; other times, and far more often than not in my experience, they live a good portion of their lives indulging and hedonizing. Pretty sure I made up that word.

TLDR: lots of money hasn't given me, nor many folks out there the ambivalent privilege of "not caring." Maybe one day it will give me the advantage of accessible seed or investment capital, but my career path isn't predicated on that. If it had, though, I imagine I'd be a flyfishing guide and drink way too much bourbon

 

I agree with Otter. Getting $2-$3 million before taxes shouldn't change shit about your career plans. It should make you very happy that you'll almost certainly never have to worry about day to day expenses. If I were set to inherit $10+ million after taxes, then I would for sure do some more interesting shit. I'd be a modern-day Hemingway, or as someone else said, shooting polar bears and shit. I'd be the best at every leisure sport imaginable....scratch golfer, Le Mans driver, sailing champion, master diver. Learn a ton of languages, travel. Do the shit that most people do in the latter part of their life when they've amassed some sort of fortune.

 

My wife and I retired at 35 (58 now) because of our inheritances. We were just working stiffs. We are smart enough to know we are only smart enough to hang on to it and not gamble it away pretending having money makes us moneymakers. We live modestly like Mr. Buffet. My 87 year old father in law just signed the rest of his fortune over to us to manage. Other family members have made us trustees of 4 trusts. I spend about 10 hours a week on it. Do I feel guilty about not being a business owner? No.

 

If it was in the high eight figures, I would have liked to travel the world and do something to help people. Maybe involve myself with micro-finance or something of that sort.

 
Otter.:
adapt or die:
Otter.:

All I'm trying to argue, though, is inheriting a couple million will not significantly alter your life

Ahh, I think you're a little off base here dude. For around 99% of the U.S. population a few million dollars out of the sky would "alter" their lives in my opinion. I think you need a reality check here. You come off to me as extremely obnoxious and naive. I don't mean to hate but what you're saying sounds ridiculous to me and I come from a decent background myself.

I really don't think this is off base. And again, I didn't say it wouldn't alter things at all, I just said it wouldn't significantly alter your life. Assuming you leave a reasonable lifestyle, you will never have to worry about not being able to pay rent or electricity bills that month, not being able making ends meet, etc., which is an amazing weight off your shoulders and gives you freedom to try some things you might not have otherwise have otherwise been able to try. But will receiving $2 million in your mid-twenties really change what you plan to do with your career?

Let's say for arguments sake that (god forbid) a parent dies tomorrow and you receive $2 million. What do you do differently? I'm genuinely curious, because if that happened to me, I would take a little bit out to maybe pay for a few fun trips I wouldn't have otherwise taken and then just invest the rest.

$2mm in your mid twenties = $90mm in your mid sixties at 10%. I think it would significantly alter pretty much 99.5% of mid-twenty-somethings lives.

 
Hooked on LEAPS:

I would take 8 years to get my undergrad from Miami University.

I mean there's this guy who took seven years to graduate from a non-target called Xavier University...and now he happens to be the US Speaker of the House. Xavier isn't that far from Miami University in Ohio, and eight years isn't much of a difference from seven. You don't even need rich parents!

To answer the OP's question though, I would try and fund indie films that Hollywodd doesn't pay attention to. Have always been interested in film but don't really possess the creative talent.

 

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Competition is a sin. -John D. Rockefeller
 

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