Are most young people in NYC bankrolled by the Bank of Mom & Dad?
I grew up poor in a crappy mid west city. Went to a top college on almost a full ride and got a job in NYC doing IB after college.
I've spent over 7 years here now, and it seems like these super "progressive" mega cities like SF/NYC that promote equality are the most oppressive to "settle" into if you don't have generational wealth backing you.
It was fine in my early 20s when everyone was renting, burning our paychecks on nights out, parties, sporting events, etc. I've saved a decent chunk, but nowhere enough to do the big "life events" (mainly buying homes, getting married, kids in the cards within a few years).
Now my friends are buying $1MM to $2MM homes, throwing extravagant weddings that cost $100K+, and I'm thinking how the fuck are these guys doing it? I was right in the thick of it splitting that $1,000 bottle of service of Dom on Saturday night with these guys.
Then it fucking hits me when I go to their newly furnish homes and meet the parents at their weddings. They are fucking backed by the Bank of Mom and Dad.
I've been trying to keep up with the Jones all these years and I just realized I'm not only competing with them when it comes to bonus season, I'm competing against them and their generational safety net.
That is all and why I'll be forced to move to a lower cost of living city in the next few years to settle down.
Sounds like you just roll with a rich crowd. I wouldn't say "most" young people are supported by their parents, but 95% of the ones blowing big money on tables and bottles or paying $5k for rent are.
I know plenty of upper-middle-class types in NYC who've gotten married, house, kids etc - but they buy a reasonably priced home in Jersey, normal wedding, and do well on their salary. Stay friends with these guys, go out on their boat and to their golf course, but they are the minority. There will always be someone richer than you, just part of life.
Unless you're Elon Musk that is
When you control that much wealth your peers become governments and agencies effectively… they are much richer/more powerful.
That's how it's supposed to be. For generations, parents have helped their kids finance weddings (normally the bride's dad has his head on the chopping block for this) and many families help their kids purchase their first home. It's something that runs in a lot of families, including mine. It's not really something you should really knock these people for, unless they don't expect to do the same for their kids. It's a good thing, really. Your post kinda wreaks of jealousy.
Indeed. Nothing like keeping the rich, rich.
Wow. Surprised by the reaction to my comment. I’ll double down.
I’m sorry your parents are financially unsuccessful and/or don’t care enough about you to improve your life through simple economics. Money for weddings and houses is easier to shell out after decades of compounded interest. Sorry you dopes are so bitter. Maybe be better than your parents?
WSO's finest.
I'm sure you think poor minorities in underserved communities are there because they are lazy and stupid, not because they were born into that situation too. If only these poor minorities didn't make the poor decision to be born into poor families.
Question for you. Do you bring your MAGA hat to work, or do you leave that in the closest?
Bruh what. Compound interest only works if you have enough take home pay to save. I'll admit, there are some parents that don't make the best of their situation (like continuing to have kids while living in a HCOL area), but there are many parents that are doing the best they can, but you clearly don't understand how poverty can be a cycle.
I say this as someone who had poor parents who made it and now bankroll me.
As someone who grew up poor and had rich childhood friends, I was with you on this comment. However, you started to get pretty disrespectful, insensitive, and ignorant in your following comments. Ideally, parents should be in a position to help their children and do things like financing their education and giving them the luxury of figuring out what they really want to do instead of having to work for money to survive. In addition, parents should do other things like help pay for weddings, first homes, and cars. Traditionally the woman's family paid for their wedding.
Unfortunately, it's the other way around when you're poor. A lot of parents in poor communities have children that end up taking care of them. I can't explain the reasons for poverty in a comment, but it's not always due to laziness. It can be difficult for people that grew up in generational wealth to understand generational poverty, just like it can be difficult for people that grew up in generational poverty to understand generational wealth. It's a blessing to have a family that can afford to make life a bit easier for their children. Everyone should strive to give their children a better life, but these families should also teach their children empathy for people less fortunate.
Suppose you go back far enough in every family with generational wealth. In that case, you will find ancestors that grew up in generational poverty until one person changed it for the rest of their family. Sometimes the descendants forget what poverty is, but it's in every bloodline. Even John D. Rockefeller's grandparents were poor farmers, and his dad was a con artist and a deadbeat. And no one is promised wealth forever like the Vanderbilts. All it takes is a few bad decisions or unfortunate events to send a family back into poverty, especially when they start to feel entitled to wealth.
I mean look at Jesse Livermore, his great-granddaughter is doing p*rn now.
I’m always surprised when I see comments like these. It always becomes a personal attack about the parents (they aren’t successful, they don’t care) which shows 1) a complete lack of awareness of the average (to even above average) compensation in this country and 2) a disregard for different approaches to raising children and what it means to “help” children. The personal attacks seem to be trying to justify this for yourself and I don’t get it.
I’ve posted this in other threads, but I worry about raising my children and balancing the right amount of help vs having them figure things out. I learned a lot about saving, budgeting, and being a “grown up” during college and the first few years after that and I don’t think I would have the same financial awareness without that. I’m not saying that helping children leads to bad results (it is pretty mixed with the people I know), but I’ve seen it cut both ways (child loses sense of money, ability to be financially responsible, etc). I worry that giving too much isn’t helping a child but actually hindering their development as an adult.
You’re hanging out with a wealthy crowd in a wealthy city… what did you expect? I know people in cities like Dallas and Atlanta that do the exact same thing (hell, I know people in fucking Birmingham, AL and Memphis, TN that do that as well), but in either case it doesn’t match the experience of 99% of people in those cities
This is only the beginning
It sucks when you come from poor parents, but you can be the first step in getting your family into the winners circle so your grandkids can live big pimping.
It only takes one generation to turn the family fortunes around.
It just sucks that it’s you that has to be the first step. Or just marry a great girl who also happens to be rich.
It's odd to me, because I also grew up in a working class midwestern town. Now I'm talking with girls who are incredibly rich. Has anyone any experience into how that has affected their lives?
I’m not sure I understand your question. You want feedback on dating very wealthy girls?
the answer to your question is yes. however, don't feel jealous. it's actually more rewarding to go through hardship of saving up and then living a nice life knowing you earned it, instead of using family money.
I agree. In a lot of ways I am glad I come from a modest background compared to a lot of the young people in NYC. This way you can attach much more meaning to achievements, milestones, etc
Is this actually true though? I try be optimistic but I really just see no future ahead. Cost of living is just so damn high and then student loans all that jazz, but hey maybe bonuses really are as big as some people say on here idk but let’s hope you’re right
just live modestly, work hard, save all you can, invest smart, and in your 30s you'll have amazing future.
The more your parents give you, the less creative you’re gonna be about finding ways to make money.
I didn’t receive anything from my parents - forced me to be creative and think out of the box when it comes to investing/career. Has been the biggest blessing
Fairly true for some. Can think of a few people who grew up in family net worths of $20+ million (one of which is worth well over $100+ million). Daughters from these families had very expensive lavish weddings and had super nice apartments while working in the city (one of them went to NYU and had access to their father's penthouse while in school, an apartment he barely used). Kind of funny to think about it - every one of these super rich families had at least one kid go to NYU at some point. Common trend amongst NYC/LI, a lot of rich kids go to NYU.
The super rich people I know went to NYU as well lol
Many, many, many are…think of the marketing chicks who are pulling $50k living in $5k/mo apartments. I think there are varying degrees of that.
I have experienced this as well, and I think it is especially prevalent with 20's aged girls who work in non-finance professions.
I could go on an on with this. That is not to say that it is just girls however, there are plenty of guys who are supported by their parents in one way or another. It is certainly the people I hang around, but working in finance, by association a lot of my friends date rich girls, and many of them come from well off families too. The amount of illogical and superfluous spending honestly disgusts me at times. These feelings of resentment obviously come from a place of jealousy/insecurity seeing as how I did not grow up rich, but I cannot comprehend the level of ignorance and tone-deafness that some of these people possess.
I come from a similar background as you OP. I think you can find solace in the fact that you are working very hard to create a positive financial situation for yourself and you can impart values of frugality and situational awareness on your kids if you so choose as you have the actual experience to do so.
I only know of girls that get this much financial support from their parents. I can think of 7-8 off the top of my head, some of whom live together in super nice multi-bedroom places. I've seen it with girls in high-earning jobs as well. When I meet the parent's though, it completely makes sense.
I think for guys who are wealthy you'll see them wearing an expensive watch / have expensive accessories or clothes. There might be a case where they live in an apartment their parents bought them and I know of a few girls who do this too but this is a bit different as you could think of it as an investment from the parent's perspectives.
i don't quite follow - could you explain what you mean that this is an investment from the parent's perspective?
While I hope you’re right, is it wrong to feel like I don’t even want to have any children at this rate knowing I’m going to have to sacrifice all my 20s to get any financial stability. College sucked for me too so deep down feel like I never really lived or had fun experiences. Maybe a better topic for a separated thread I suppose.
I would actually find another thread on this topic interesting so we can jump in further
While it's hilarious to point out how out of touch some people are, I can't help but think it's a massive problem in our society. This gap in understanding creates a lack of empathy. When you hear people that can't afford their rent saying that others should, "be entrepreneurs" or "hustle their way out," it becomes painfully obvious how out of touch a pretty affluent and influential portion of the population is. My girlfriend has this belief that everyone can become rich, but she (+ 3 siblings) are completely dependent on her parents. It's nuts how much money she (+ 3 siblings) spend to make their lives easier. Think fitness classes, tutors (she's in school but also paid for spanish lessons before a vacation we took), cleaning lady, dog walker, and beauty treatments (... and I don't even see half the bills). I'm 100% going to do the same for my kids, because you can achieve better results with less effort / discipline. On paper, she + all of her siblings are stellar -- active lifestyles, great apartments / cars, interesting jobs, very well dressed, and have cool experiences to talk about.
"I asked Wharton students what they thought the average American worker makes per year and 25% of them thought it was over six figures."
If she is fully dependent on her parents.. are you ready for the associated costs if your relationship goes to the next level?
I think girls enjoy this way more than guys. Girls are more encouraged to "follow their passion" or "live out their dreams" by their parents while guys are much more encouraged to take on high earning professions. Parents are less worried about their male children finding a way in life or providing for themselves, as eventually they may have to provide for others too. Parents see their girls on the other hand as a person who will be taken care of and therefore should do whatever they so please, without respect to how much they make or whether they will be a provider in the future.
The above, obviously, are dated notions. Many women pursue high earning careers and have more opportunity now than ever. But they have yet to receive the same encouragement to engage specifically in the careers that men engage in. I think this has enabled women perhaps to do exactly what they want while getting the parental support necessary (and maybe even quite a bit more than necessary) to do those things (i.e. not having to worry about $$).
That said, one of my best guy friends from college makes almost exactly what I do and pays $3900/mo in rent and buys steak dinner every weekend. He's even on the board of a local non-profit as a first year analyst from the donations sent "by him." There are definitely no shortage of guys who are being bankrolled in NYC to get a "great start to their careers" either.
Totally get what you're saying. Seen this a few times where you know someone and the numbers just don't add up. In my analyst year, one guy bought a really nice house right off the bat which kind of leaves you scratching your head. I finally bought a house about a decade later.....and then a junior on our team bought a house in the same neighborhood. WTF, right!
It is what it is....although I usually hate that saying. Just try not to hate on these people too much and live your life.
Progressives push the biggest joke on us since Lenin
Eh its not the true progressives causing the inequality in cities so much as the centre left people who are happy to support liberal social causes but will fight tooth and nail to stop zoning for multi family or higher density anywhere in their city. Progressives are much more for building more housing than the centre left upper middle class crowd who are supportive of more housing anywhere but their neighborhood.
NYC/SF/LA are for the super rich or the super poor.
If you're a W2 worker pulling in a salary, no financial help from parents, very unlikely you'll be able to settle into these areas. More likely, you'll be playing in the suburbs of these areas in your early 30s and commuting in.
It is what it is.
Next time you hear a late 20s something telling you about the new home they bought in the city, just smile and say congrats. You know in 90% of the case, they got help from parents or family and didn't really earn it.
I've actually noticed the kids whose parents pay 100% for $5K for a luxury Manhattan apartment tend to be the sons and daughters of oligarchs from smaller towns/cities (think the child of a Harrisburg, PA surgeon). The kids from the tri-state (excepting a few from uber-wealthy places like New Vernon/Greenwich/Mill Neck) tend to be much more grounded, even if their parents bring in ~$1M/ann. For these kids it is common for parents to pay down-payment for apartment, and kids are expected to pay all the mortgages.
Think it really comes down to how people are raised. I've seen quite a few people from Westchester who don't pay their own rent.
Granted If I was wealthy and making a good income. I would probably try and help my children as much as possible assuming that they were not being deadbeats.
This is definitely a type. My second favorite after the "in law school but also an influencer and NYC creative" persona.
I always say people will tell you want they have, not how they got it. For example, they will tell you about their house/car, but not that their parents paid for it or they got an inheritance for example.
It could be a nurture over nature thing, if parents have money, they probably know to instruct their kids about who to work for/where to keep getting money.
U directly or somewhat indirectly work for these rich kids’ dads and u complain about their kids? Welcome to the real world man.
I'm gonna get partially bankrolled by my parents as they saved for private school while I ended up going public on scholarship. They're being nice enough to help with rent once I graduate as such. So I'll probably be looking at places as much as $3.5k for a solid 1Bdrm.
I'm not following the math here. You've been in IB for seven years, didn't start out with any (or any significant) student debt, but haven't put enough away to make a 20% down payment on a $1m house or apt...? If you put 10k into an S&P 500 index fund after your first year, and increased your savings by $10k / year thereafter, you'd have well over $400k today. And yes, that would mean that last year you'd have banked $80k, but after 7 years I have to assume you are a VP, a level at which that kind of savings is not unreasonable. And this ignores any employer match on a 401k, or outsize returns on any stock options your bank might have issued you (bank stocks have done pretty well).
OP probably came in with significant student debt considering the title of this thread. If he did an MBA, that's more debt and lost wages that you're not factoring in.
OP clearly stated that he had an almost full ride to college, said he'd been in NYC for 7 years, and didn't say anything about an MBA. So maybe that was a needlessly expensive Columbia or NYU MBA, but in any case, 2 years spent spending/not making$ would be a pretty important detail to leave out of even a brief description of your professional / financial history.
$1000 bottle wines are way too expensive for someone who could afford a $1-2M home. You all were living beyond what your salaries realistically allow.
If you think the progressive and/or vaguely "anti-capitalist" scions of wealthy families (all wealthy due to capitalism of course) are annoying - and they are - wait until some kid whose parents funded his private schools and college education, seeded his trust fund, and called in favors to get him an IB job gets hold of an ayn rand book and starts lecturing everybody about self reliance.
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