Parents vs. kids

Most people approaching middle age from well-to-do families or with professional careers are looking forward to a time when they can make themselves independently wealthy: having enough money, in your control, to create passive income sufficient to meet your needs.

In working with various families through our relationships with businesses of all sizes, we have come to recognize that there’s a different model that many wealthy parents pursue: they want to make their children “dependently wealthy.” By holding the purse strings, failing to nurture, mentor, or teach skills, and by allowing themselves to intrude on significant life decisions (marriage, home ownership, career development), these parents maintain control over their childrens’ lives just as if they were still teenagers. We know of families that have this relationship with grown children who themselves have children!

Dependently wealthy — it really doesn’t help your children grow up, especially when they’re 35.