Parenting: Raising children to be motivated
How do wealthy people raise their children to become self-motivated and resilient? The short answer is that rich parents teach their kids three main things: (1) to dream big and take risks, (2) to guard their money and spend it strategically, and (3) not to be nostalgic, but to focus on the future. In this blog, we’re going to focus on the first part: dream big. Parenting with a focus on these three steps will help prevent kids from becoming dependent on the family’s money.
Teaching kids to be risk takers.
Wealthy people teach their kids something different. The central theme to their parenting style can be summed up in one way: Be A Risk-Taker
This means that wealthy families raise their kids to look at life the way it should be played in a bold and fearless manner; that there is nothing wrong with thinking big.
This, of course, makes their kids grow up thinking that they can be anything they want to be if they become risk-takers. This is why they usually get into the business world not in support-type of positions, but in front-office positions.
In these positions they are at the forefront of making the actual revenue for the organizations and at the same time they make a lot of money for themselves. This also means that they are the kind of kids that will grow up and go for careers that are painful in the beginning, but over time that pain becomes worth it. Those careers include being investment bankers, money managers, entrepreneurs, investors, high-level government positions, etc.
Teaching kids to guard their money and spend it strategically.
This makes the kids of wealthy parents not spend money on short-term endeavors as much as their non-wealthy counterparts. Even if spending that money will provide comfort, they will not spend money easily. Therefore they are more likely to grow up to spend more on long-term endeavors and less on short-term endeavors, which overall helps to keep their family wealthy for the next generation.
This has implications for estate planning. We don’t just focus on simply transferring wealth. Getting a big windfall doesn’t always help motivate a person. Rather, we make the money available in a trust, but without outright distributions. This is what wealthier families do. This parenting advice applies to grown up children as well. I’ve seen too often that middle-aged “kids” get an inheritance, quit their jobs, go on lavish vacations, and then have to go back to work because they have no retirement savings.