[chatmasta]

I know lots of people in this situation, including more than a few with "10 figure" parents, and the happiest ones are those who choose to ignore the money and live a normal life. They might live in nicer apartments, but for the most part they get the same jobs as their peers and go down the same career path. If they didn't do that I imagine it could become quite isolating.

If that doesn't interest you, you could start a company or go to school. You don't have the same pressure to make money that many recent grads do, because you have a big safety net if you fail. So the risk/reward ratio is higher for you in startup land.

I don't see why rich parents should change your behavior. Don't you want to be successful on your own? Or do you just want to wait for an inheritance (read: wait for both of your parents to die)?

What would your parents think if they read this post?

[pinnbert]

Well I know a mid 8 figure only-child family, but don't know or lie about knowing "10 figure parents".

I'm working and getting a $28k bonus for evading the gift tax--that's fine for now. My parents would know about that part. I have the pressure to present any business ideas to my parents, or even the trustee. Video games frankly seem tempting.

[taway_1212]

Don't be that rich sucker that jumps into a business sector he knows little about and either wastes enormous amounts of money or is taken for a ride by some cynical people. In the end, you'll probably lose the money and may end up being a local laughing stock ("- Remember that guy who knew nothing about video game development and yet thought it's a good idea to pour a couple millions into idea X? - Yeah, we made a killing off him too!").

IMO the smart thing to do would be to be cautious about choosing your industry (that's assuming you want to be entrepreneur, which may change with time). Video games development is definitely not for the faint of heart (i.e. when you're starting out, to turn a profit you need to be either very very good AND lucky or just plain super-lucky), so I'd suggest spending some time in the industry as an employee first to assess whether you like what you're getting into. This has the benefit of being exposed to a lot of things, so, in the end, even if you come to conclusion that you don't want to start a game dev company, you might figure that you really liked what programmers|artists|musicians|managers|marketers did in that company and choose it as your next pursuit. Life is a journey really and it's best to treat it as such from the start.

[bottler_of_bees]

There is a wide gap between making games, and enjoying them.

Once they're reduced to nuts and bolts and hard work, they become much less interesting.

[pinnbert]

Likely true, although I was referring to playing them.