Bam. 25. The first million slips into your bank account and you’re off to travel the world. Future aspirations include becoming the next Kardashian, strumming the guitar until you’re suddenly a rockstar, or, (and this is a personal favorite) lounge on the beach all day until the sun goes down. Because you can.
Sounds good enough— right?
Wrong.
Some might say the dream is to never have to work a day in your life. Keep in mind this is usually said after someone has worked at least one day in their lives. Never having to work may sound like a dream, especially coming from someone who is stuck in a cubicle from 9:00-5:00. But for someone who has tried it— trust me, there are few things worse.
Hugh Grant got it pretty spot on in About A Boy. His father had one hit album, and Will, the character, is able to live comfortably off the chunk of money without having to support himself. A day in the life of the character goes like this:
1. Wake up
2. Get your hair done (professionally, of course).
3. Go to the grocery store
4. Cook, or eat some sort of prepared food
5. Watch TV
6. Go out to a bar or somewhere that has some type of social stimulation (because since you aren’t working, there is an obvious void there).
7. Sleep
The life of a trust fund baby is not far off. Quickly, you realize that a life void of any responsibility is, well.. pretty boring. You spend the entire day getting waited on. If you do choose to go adventuring, chances are you are riding solo because you have not met anyone new in your fascinating life of grocery shopping and Netflix bingeing. Your old friends from school have jobs and essentially, have moved on. You are the immature one.
About A Boy touches on this subject. The young boy, Marcus who is raised by a mentally unstable mother is forced to grow up at a young age. He takes on an immense amount of responsibility. He buys groceries, cooks, works hard in school and so on. The most difficult part of Will’s day is choosing what items he wants in his shopping cart. Marcus teaches him how to be an adult. It does not take long for Will to see the void in his life. When he starts meeting Marcus’s friends and family and later positively influencing Marcus himself, he begins to see how little meaning his life had before he chose to truly live.
Trust fund babies are given the road to success; they are not led down it. Money is not a right; it is a privilege. Children in line for these gifts are spoiled and lazy. They do not understand the importance of responsibility because it was never taught to them. Their parents supplied them with allowances so getting a job was never necessary. If they needed extra money, it always appeared. Prices on the menu were never a problem because they were not the ones paying. Their parents were.
It is indisputable that financial security is important. If a family is capable of providing it, then it should be done. However too many trust funds are handed out without any culpability. Every individual should have a job. Every single person should experience being responsible for their own money; knowing what it is like to be on a budget and have the satisfaction of buying a gift that they truly earned. There is no better feeling in the world than buying something with money that was earned by you, and only you.
Financial security is not a “get out of jail free” card. Having the means to support yourself does not mean you get out of giving back. It means you should give even more. People that are in difficult situations are limited when it comes to job selection. They have to choose the career that will be the best investment in 10 or 20 years. Someone who is blessed enough to have been given security does not necessarily hold that burden. They have the means to give back. They have the power to make a difference.
