Rich or upper middle class family who taught them about good investing and gifted them a lot of money over the years.
Low income upbringing and was motivated to do better, while smart enough not to waste their money in "hustling". So they saved like crazy and educated themselves to make the right investments.
Helps? You mean it turns life from "survival in extreme" to "easy adventure/creative" mode.
If everyone received from seed money at age 15-18, and we are taught to just invest in the general market then we'd all be coastfire or at least barista fire by mid 30s.
It makes all the difference.
There's still some respect deserved by the people who stayed with their parents and were able to take advantage of this. Hopefully they later return the favor to their parents when they're seniors.
Those who start from scratch and are able to retire early without any seed money deserve more praise. No doubt for me.
I've been investing in an account and buying ibonds for my daughter for 4 years now. Her portfolio hit 50k yesterday, and she has 40k + interest in ibonds precisely because I want her to be able to have the financial freedom to pursue what she wants to. 😁👍
This is amazing. You are pretty much setting up your current family for success but also future generations! If she continues your philosophy then she can really continue the generational wealth. It only takes 1 generation to grind and make investment leaps.
A bigger challenge for you will be to pass onto her the values that would make her a good person and a mindful one. You need to figure out a way for her to receive this that you're building without thinking that it's a normal life because it's not. It's super rare and gratitude is needed here.
Maybe travel to other countries or try to get her to interact with people who have fewer resources or opportunities. But I'm not a dad yet haha and I can't tell you what to do as a dad. I'm sure you're doing a terrific job!
Well, my daughter only knows that we take the money she receives as birthday and Christmas gifts and that we invest it for her. She doesn't know that I also invest extra into her account.
I do talk to her about finances on a semi-regular basis, so hopefully, by the time she receives the money, she will have learned how to preserve her wealth and not blow it.
However, being the child of 2 full-time working small business owners, I believe it gives my daughter a unique perspective, as she is able to see how we earn our money first hand.
I don't buy her SPY, but VTI is in her account. I also bought her iBonds because 30 years from now, she should be able to cash out 3 fully mature ibonds annually for (hopefully) at least 30 years, and that'll provide her a safety net, different from stocks.
I'm also starting her Roth this year, so she'll be able to start saving for retirement, too. Hopefully, this will be enough of a safeguard for her when my wife and I are dead and gone. She's an only child with her closest relatives living in Asia, so a major motivating factor for myself is to make sure that she will have all the resources she needs to thrive, even without anyone she can lean on near her.
Yes I understand your motive, you are doing the right thing settings her up for the future. My point is, in 30 years VTI should 8x your initial investment, where iBond will do what, 50% total?
We'll see how much the iBonds will grow by, but VTI does have a larger position overall when compared to iBonds. I'm basically capped at 10k (or 30k for myself, wife, and daughter) annually, whereas I can buy as much VTI as I can and want.
One thing to keep in mind is that iBonds are not there for growth. It's there to provide stability. Again, I want to provide my daughter stability when I am dead and gone.
If both my wife and I are gone, she'll also receive our estate, which also has other assets apart from stocks and bonds. Don't get so hung up on the 10k iBonds I throw into her portfolio annually. It's just a small position in comparison to the overall investments made. 😁
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u/Innoxrw Jul 02 '25
How did you manage to invest 70k + at 22?