10+ Intriguing Stories of Kids Realizing Their Parents Were Rich

Parents often keep their financial situation under wraps to teach their kids the importance of early financial literacy and that money isn’t a cure-all. Surprisingly, many adults recall moments from their childhood when they realized how fortunate they were compared to others — here are the best stories that were shared online when one Reddit user asked the question, “People who had rich parents growing up, when did you realize you were rich?”

Apparently it wasn’t normal to go on holiday once a month. mistygreysky / RedditDad came home late from work, and I had been eagerly waiting for him for a reason I don’t remember now. I do remember clearly him coming up the stairs and me asking him why did he take so long; didn’t his boss allow him to leave on time? His answer was: What are you talking about? I am the boss. It suddenly hit me that the hundreds of people he had around him all day weren’t exactly his pals. Iknowthevoid / RedditI had a knee injury and was limping around everywhere ~14 years old. My parents told me they did not have the money to see the doctor. When I repeated this to my soccer coach, he was in shock and pissed. Told me, “Do you know how much money your parents make?”
I think he had a strong word with them, and my parents took me to the doctors. Found out they were multi-millionaires, and my dad was a CEO. My meniscus was torn. WishboneInformal / RedditI did not grow up rich. But my husband did. His sister once said, “I didn’t know everyone didn’t live in big houses until I went off to college.” Apparently, she led a VERY sheltered life. awhq / RedditWhen my dad’s friend lost his job and lost his house in a divorce, my did casually went out and bought him a new house, replaced his car and gave him a monthly “salary” for his friend to go and live his life on so he can remember that life can also be amazing. It was also the time I realized my dad (and mom) are incredible. Miss that man. He was one of the good ones to get lucky with money. The man wore the same jeans every day but bought his friend a house. tommmmmmmmy93 / RedditMy parents were wealthy, but they also wanted my siblings and me to work early and work hard. I got a job at 14 at a local sandwich shop and had a co-worker who was around the same age. I just assumed that she didn’t need to work and was only doing it for the “character building” aspect, like I was. I asked her what she was going to do with her first paycheck, assuming it would be something fun, and she told me she was going to give it to her parents because they were really struggling and needed help with the bills.
I was shocked. I had never met someone who needed to help their parents with bills at only 14-15. She was a really sweet girl. I hope she and her family are OK. smugmisswoodhouse / RedditWhen a kid in my class (who as it happened didn’t live that far away from us) bragged the day after Halloween that he and his friends had gone trick-or-treating on our street “where all the rich people live”. I had always known we were well-off but would not have described us as rich because a) we didn’t have live-in staff b) our property was not fenced off and c) my parents always drove themselves. SniffleBot / RedditI was about 12, I think. When friends would come over, they would go on and on about how big the house was and how I had more games and computers and stuff than them (they especially seemed freaked out about the maid), and I just started to realize that I didn’t have the same circumstances as most. They wouldn’t all say it if it weren’t true, I assume. I did have other friends with money, especially when I started attending private school, but I didn’t realize they were well off either. LoveAndDynamite / RedditI have a family member that grew up with a private jet. The first time she flew commercial, she turned to her family and asked, “Who are all these people on our plane?” On flying — I’m no way rich, but I was reading that the majority of the world’s population, over 90% didn’t take one flight last year. I’m not sure if that’s true, I’ll look for the post, but that hit me pretty hard how fortunate I am to fly to see family sometimes. Highplowp / RedditWhen my dad’s health became a concern, he sat me and my siblings down and showed us his will and how to get into the financial accounts should anything happen. None of us knew we would each inherit a sum where we wouldn’t have to work again, if we didn’t want to. This man raised us to go without nothing so he could give us everything. Thanks, Dad. JustCallMeYarr / RedditMy parents were always super frugal (we camped instead of hotels on road trips, siblings had to share ice cream cones, rarely ate out at restaurants) but then my parents bought a jet ski, new car, and a boat all within a couple months and I went “wait…”. Turns out my dad was a VP at a Fortune 500 company, but his emphasis was always on paying for education and experiences and passing down fiscal responsibility rather than being flashy. BurlyNerdGetsTheWorm / RedditComments

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