I was born into wealth, however my father is a self made millionaire. He went from building his house with his father and student loans to CTO of a major company. I understand my privilege and his parenting has made me appreciate what my mom and him gave me. To us, money only matters until you have enough to avoid worrying about it (obviously way easier said than done). We have nice things but we live way below our wealth. To him, the only difference of being rich is not having to stress about money. He still makes a lot (emphasis on a lot) of time for our immediate and extended families. He’ll make sure to call one of his 5 sisters every day of the week to check in. I’m currently in college and he makes sure to talk to me at least once a week. Although he’s gained wealth, his values have not changed. He worked his ass off so his kids have the best opportunities available to them, not so he can flaunt his wealth. Growing up born into wealth is a strange situation. Most people look at me and what I’ve accomplished as being given to me. The thing about this is they’re not entirely wrong. Without my father’s situation, I would be way worse off. However, with the help of his parenting, I’m still working my ass off. The best thing he has taught me is to not take our situation for granted and work hard for what you want. It sucks that the majority of people that don’t know my family do not understand this, but at the end of the day, I was taught to take advantage of the opportunities given to me. I believe my father’s “rags to riches” upbringing is the main reason I have this outlook on wealth.

I guess the purpose of this comment is to give people a different perspective on the “self made millionaire”. My dad worked hard to provide for my family. He instilled the values he learned through this in his children. Obviously we were given opportunities most don’t have, but we work our asses off to capitalize on these because of him.

Side note: If anyone is in a similar situation and struggling with other’s perspective of your situation, feel free to ask for any help. I have been working at the same company as my father for a few years now and battling this stereotype of “the boss’s son” has not been easy, but it’s absolutely doable. Be humble and let your work ethic prove them wrong.