Raising Rich Kids: The Impact of Parents on Their Children's Financial Mindset

Are You Making Your Kids Rich or Poor?

As a father of four, I've been thinking a lot about the impact that parents have on their children's financial mindset. Are we setting them up for success or failure? Are we raising entitled, spoiled kids or responsible, contributing members of society?

To begin, let's clarify something: when I talk about "rich," I don't mean just having a lot of money. I mean being in control of your financial situation and being a responsible contributor to society. Whether through art, service, or any other means, it’s important to instill in our children a sense of civic responsibility. Money is just a tool, and regardless of what our kids choose to do with their lives, they will need to manage and use this tool like any other.

The Impact of Parents on Their Children

Parents have a massive impact on their children and can develop a poor or rich mentality within them. Our circumstances can change how we see and interact with the world around us. We are our own individual beings, but our upbringing shapes our mentality, which directly reflects how we grow up and how we will control our own future.

My Own Upbringing

My mom and dad are from a small city called Burley, Idaho. My mother was a girl who grew up on a farm. On the farm, there was no higher compliment than telling someone that they were a hard worker. My father, on the other hand, grew up in extreme poverty. He had to gather wood and poach for food to survive - he didn't even have running water.

My father made the conscious decision to change his life and go a different direction. He married my mother, and they had me. He started selling insurance, and eventually, he tried to start his own insurance sales company. It was brutal for my mom and dad. But my father, being from poverty and having that humility, was very proud of his directly earned money, and he had no qualms working extraordinarily hard for it.

He developed a very firm belief that life is not fair, and it doesn't need to be. It is what we make out of it. He believed that whoever works the hardest is the top dog. These were the kinds of values that my parents instilled within me and my siblings.

Seeing my father struggle and also letting me know that it's okay to struggle really shaped how I viewed the world. My mom made us work and let us know that we had to work before we played. These were very fundamental principles that shaped our mentality, which directly reflected how we grew up and how we controlled our own future.

The Difference between Rich and Wealthy

My father ended up being not only middle class but also very wealthy during his early adulthood following his marriage to my mother. As a teenager, I didn't get to participate in that success, but I saw my dad struggle before I saw the benefits of his hard work. Of course, when I got out of college, I started selling insurance with my dad, and it was the same type of thing - I struggled as a young adult, newly married, but learning these valuable lessons through it all.

I learned that making a lot of money didn't necessarily mean that we were wealthy. Wealth means not having to work for money. I knew people who made less than me, but they were wealthy because they didn't have to work for their money.

The Importance of Education and Opportunity

Growing up, my parents made it clear that they would give me education and opportunity, but I would have to make it on my own. The lessons I learned from them were valuable because I realized that I had the power to control my life. This lesson is essential, and I believe it should be passed down to our children.

As a parent, I believe that our job is to empower our children by allowing them to fail and face the consequences of their actions. We must not guarantee their success or safety but instead prepare them for the real world. It is vital to teach them that life is not fair, and what we get from the world determines what we put out into the world. This mindset will not only help them financially but also mentally and socially.

Abundance Mindset

Having an abundance mindset is how we cultivate a wealthy mindset. It is a mindset of creation, and I firmly believe that it is our job as parents to empower our children to have that. We must not create safety nets or backstops for our children. We must not allow them to get away with whatever they want. An idle mind is a lazy mind, after all. By teaching our children this mindset, we set them up to be poor, not just financially, but mentally as well.

As parents, we don't need to be perfect. It's okay if our kids have problems with us, and we shouldn't blame our parents for our own shortcomings. If we're constantly making excuses, our children will pick up on this and do the same. It's important to lead by example and allow our children to learn from their own experiences.

These are my personal thoughts on a subject that I'm passionate about. I have four children, and I came from challenging circumstances. My dad, who came out of poverty, is my hero and influenced me to believe in unlimited potential. This belief helped me overcome paralysis and constant pain after being on life support for many month, with the unwavering conviction that I would walk and achieve whatever I wanted.

Why This Is Important

Children generally do what you do, not what you say. As a parent, I think it's important to lead by example. Although I don't have to work, I have over 300 million in assets now, and we have multiple businesses. My idea of financial freedom is not that I'm not working, but rather that I have the option to do more of what I love.

As parents, we play a crucial role in shaping our children's financial mindset, which can have a significant impact on their future success and contributions to society. It is important to teach children that being rich is not just about having a lot of money, but about being in control of their financial situation and making responsible choices. 

Empowering children to have an abundance mindset and teaching them the value of hard work, education, and opportunity can set them up for a wealthy mindset. Leading by example and allowing children to face the consequences of their actions can help them develop a sense of control and prepare them for the real world. Ultimately, it is our duty as parents to empower our children to become responsible, contributing members of society.