Brooklyn Beckham, son of David and Victoria Beckham, has had many careers. One was as a photographer, and he published a book of his work called What I see. This included the silhouette of an elephant where he took the photo facing the sun. The photograph had the caption “elephants in Kenya, so hard to photograph, but incredible to see.”
Despite never having worked in a kitchen or doing any training, he has reinvented himself as a chef, making videos for his social media channels where he will teach you how to boil pasta or make a salad. A show of him making a sandwich is reported to have cost $100,000 and employed 62 people. Easy to do when your parents are multi millionaires.
Donald Trump has successfully marketed himself as a great businessman. The truth is, his father that was the great businessman. And he was always there to bail Donald out when another one of his big business ventures failed.
Donald was able to take big risks with his business ventures. Other businessmen, without a safety net like Trump, couldn’t take risks on this scale because if they failed, they would be ruined. So when the some of Trump’s ventures worked out, he made huge profits and was able to point at his business acumen as the reason for his success.
This safety net doesn’t just apply to the fabulously wealthy. Say you wanted to start a new business needed some working capital. You are more likely to take the leap if you could access that money through a parent. You will get more favourable repayment terms, probably interest free and no repayments while you find your feet. If the business failed, you may get the loan written off or some grace time to get back on your feet and start the repayments again. Compare that to someone who has to get a loan from a bank with higher interest rates, immediate repayments and personal guarantees. You could be facing bankruptcy if things don’t work out.
It is easier to succeed in life too. It is likely that your parents will pay better attention to your education and give you the best opportunities available. The option of private school is always there and the ability to pay for grinds if a child is struggling with a subject. These are opportunities that are not available to everyone. You will also find that wealthier households have more space to have the correct environment at home to study and do well in exams.
Not everyone is academic and just because someone comes from a wealthier family doesn’t mean they are academically intelligent. I have seen lots of cases of young adults who didn’t do well in school and went straight to work as they didn’t get the points to get into college. Their parents were able to use their contacts to get their child into a company that will provide them opportunities to earn a good income and allow them to be able to afford to buy their own home. Similar young people coming from a poorer background will struggle to get those opportunities, resulting in them having lower paying jobs.
In 2018, when being asked about the impossibility of people to be able to pay rent and save enough for a deposit for a new home, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said “others get money from their parents. Lots of us did.” While Varadkar was derided for his comments, it is true.
When working with my financial planning clients, it is usual to include “house deposit money for kids” as one of the large future expenditures that they will have. The housing crises has not gone away and people who have parents who will help them out with deposit money are at a huge advantage. They can get on the property ladder much quicker than those who may spend years saving. And they are able to spend money having experiences while others are sat at home saving every penny.
Having that leg up when starting out in life can make a huge difference to your future.
Steven Barrett
23 January 2023