Privileged children have problems just like everyone else.

Problems only rich kids have: overcoming “affluenza”. While the rest of us struggle to teach our kids that they can’t have everything, the rich are working to raise healthy kids who aren’t overwhelmed by the fact that they can.

I’d like to play the world’s smallest violin for these families, but it’s a real problem. Just look at Paris Hilton. Wealthy kids can find themselves hooked on drugs, struggling with relationships and unable to establish a career, just like their poorer cousins. In some cases, their money may be to blame.

At least, that’s what wealth manager  turned author James D’Amico thinks. He’s self-published a book about this issue, called “The Affluenza Antidote.” Does affluenza really need an antidote, though? Or are some kids in every social class just going to fall apart? Maybe it’s not that money causes these kids’ probelms. Maybe it’s just that money can’t always solve them.

Continue reading »

Tweet

0

Pin It

I know, I know! We’ve done a terrible disservice to our mega-wealthy readership by never, ever offering parenting tips on how to raise the impossibly entitled.

While this advice may come too late for the Hiltons, it’s not too late for your cashmere-wrapped bundle. So pop in a diamond encrusted binky and hand her over to one of the nannies. What you read could change the course of your born-on-third-base future success story! Continue reading »

Tweet

4

Pin It

One of the things laid bare by the recession is that all of us need some serious financial education. If people had a more clear understanding of how interest rates and markets work, it’s possible we might not have fallen for the idea that buying a $450,000 house on $50,000 worth of income is superterrific and what everyone else is doing.

And interestingly, that’s not just true for regular people, but also for the very, very rich. This Reuters story discusses how the very wealthy — those with more than $30 million in investable assets — are asking more pointed questions of their financial advisers and looking for help educating their children about the hard facts of money management. Continue reading »

Tweet

0

Pin It

The entire article drips with sarcasm. You’ll soon learn Laura Steins is “squeaking by on $300,000 a year.” But first, you get a taste of the morning routine – including the live-in nanny.

As Detroit flatlines and those of us in the media quiver in our boots over impending newspaper closures and layoffs, the other half wants us to know they’re in pain. Only their pain looks nothing like ours. Continue reading »

Tweet

0

Pin It