How many of you have a Trust Fund? What’s it like?

there is no risk of ever not being able to pay bills or go hungry or have a nice home/apartment. no student loans; mortgages are like play money. always have a working car, purchased new - not used. never had to make a budget or not buy whatever i felt like buying whenever i wanted it. travel where ever and do anything, but still working and not wanting to abuse vacation time too much

not working was never an option though, but money and time and contacts/networking were never an impediment to getting a solid white collar career that advances quickly because always getting opportunities that others miss out on. dont have to beat others in a resume comparing job application pool

money doesn't buy happiness - but I can't really imagine what real stress feels like

i guess i have and make more money than I can spend - while working. but if I didn't work, it would start running out because i would have more time to spend it. working doesn't feel like it is about making money - it feels like it is more about restraining spending because work takes time out of the day and days out of the year.

I made my own. I retired in my mid 40s with 3 children to still put through college. I never made a great deal of money but socked every penny into the stock market and have a net worth exceeding $4M now. I pointed this out in a different thread and was even questioned by one of the founders who didn't believe that it was possible until I showed the simple math.

Got mine on my 23rd birthday as I was entering grad school. I do have enough to live on very comfortably. It has not removed my desire to be gainfully employed. It has removed many stresses. It allows me to have a great quality of life that I would not otherwise have. It allows me to make decisions about my career that I could not otherwise make. It allows me to put up with less BS from people at work. It allows me to have experiences that I may not otherwise have had because of costs. Overall, it is incredibly freeing.

While money may not bring happiness. I am pretty confident, it brings more happiness than poverty does.

That's a weird concept of socialism.

Richie Richer wrote:

I made my own. I retired in my mid 40s with 3 children to still put through college. I never made a great deal of money but socked every penny into the stock market and have a net worth exceeding $4M now. I pointed this out in a different thread and was even questioned by one of the founders who didn't believe that it was possible until I showed the simple math.

If you had money you could risk investing you made a great deal of money compared to most people in the US. It’s like the upper middle class is oblivious to struggling.

Richie Richer wrote:

I made my own. I retired in my mid 40s with 3 children to still put through college. I never made a great deal of money but socked every penny into the stock market and have a net worth exceeding $4M now. I pointed this out in a different thread and was even questioned by one of the founders who didn't believe that it was possible until I showed the simple math.

$4M isn't enough to retire on at mid 40s

Like most people who have trust funds, I'm not rich by any means. Mine is worth ~$250K and I take a required minimum distribution of about $6K per year. I'm glad to have it and I am incredibly grateful that my mother made such an effort to put her kids on solid financial ground before she passed, but the notion that trust fund = mega wealthy doesn't apply. I'd guess that at least 99% of people who have trust funds have a similar story.

Forgot to mention, it will allow me to stop working whenever I feel like. Right now, I am thinking that this will be somewhere between my 37th-40th birthday.

Richie Richer wrote:

I made my own. I retired in my mid 40s with 3 children to still put through college. I never made a great deal of money but socked every penny into the stock market and have a net worth exceeding $4M now. I pointed this out in a different thread and was even questioned by one of the founders who didn't believe that it was possible until I showed the simple math.

Must be nice, crook

I retied several years ago and my net worth has increased by $600k since. You may want to rethink your lifestyle and your investment strategy. If the stock market returns an average of 8% per year, that is $320k earnings on $4M. Spend 1/2 to live and that is an increase of $160k per year. But that also increases each year because the earnings will be $400k wen it hits $5M. I hope that you enjoy your job more than I enjoy whatever I choose to do.

Upper middle class? I worked my way through college. My father earned $20k per year and raised a family of 6. I learned that everyone has a great deal of money to invest. I have never had cable TV. I lived with only my work cell phone. We did not eat out. Most don't want to make sacrifices at a young age in order to live a lifetime of leisure.

Richie Richer wrote:

I made my own. I retired in my mid 40s with 3 children to still put through college. I never made a great deal of money but socked every penny into the stock market and have a net worth exceeding $4M now. I pointed this out in a different thread and was even questioned by one of the founders who didn't believe that it was possible until I showed the simple math.

I'm confused by this. You made your own money and put it in a trust fund for yourself? Or you don't actually have a trust fund but you're just posting here to tell us all how much money you have?

Lots of weird comments in this thread.

1) 4M is plenty to retire on if you want to live on 120k-160k annually

2) Knowing many people who have trust funds the responses from blueblooded are exactly why I am capping my children’s trust at what I expect a 4 year college to equal in 17 years.

3) As someone in their mid 30s who has a new worth in the mid 7 figures and adding an additional 500k to that nest egg from salary annually I have take great pride in being able to accumulate wealth without help. Similarly I have taken great pride buying my first house with money I earned, taking my family on vacations with money I earned etc. I would never take those experiences and pride away from my children. I feel sorry for folks who have never had to work for the things they have.

I have an ancestor who invented dice, so I've had one since the day I was born.

blueblooded wrote:

Richie Richer wrote:

I made my own. I retired in my mid 40s with 3 children to still put through college. I never made a great deal of money but socked every penny into the stock market and have a net worth exceeding $4M now. I pointed this out in a different thread and was even questioned by one of the founders who didn't believe that it was possible until I showed the simple math.

$4M isn't enough to retire on at mid 40s

Most people can retire on $4 million. Lets assume a modest withdrawal rate of 2.5%, that would provide $100k per year. Assuming the $4 million is invested, it should return more than 2.5%. I could surely live on $100k per year for the next 50 years.

What if we suddenly have 20% inflation? Purchasing power of that money could decrease dramatically.

hi sweetie hows it going wrote:

Do you have enough to live on? Is having one essentially like socialism, where you lose all drive to do anything of value?

Donald Trump was a trust fund baby.

Were you thinking of him when you said they lose drive to do anything of value?

Star wrote:

hi sweetie hows it going wrote:

Do you have enough to live on? Is having one essentially like socialism, where you lose all drive to do anything of value?

Donald Trump was a trust fund baby.

Were you thinking of him when you said they lose drive to do anything of value?

This thread is clearly aimed at the co-founders. Pretty sure we won't get a straight answer from them, however.

erwre wrote:

blueblooded wrote:

$4M isn't enough to retire on at mid 40s

Most people can retire on $4 million. Lets assume a modest withdrawal rate of 2.5%, that would provide $100k per year. Assuming the $4 million is invested, it should return more than 2.5%. I could surely live on $100k per year for the next 50 years.

$4 million is plenty to retire on even today even if you are in your mid-40s.

People who say otherwise are out of their minds.

Rule of thumb is to take 4%...that's $160,000 per year. Most Americans don't make half that. Average US household income in 2020 was $78,500. If you retire in your 40s it might behoove you to take 3%. Ok. That's still $120,000. Still more than most Americans make, and if you take that little, it will grow more than that on average over time, so you get to have an increase on average each year. Good freakin' grief.