[nemacol]

I keep trying to develop the habit of having wealthy parents but they keep being poor.

Also, those articles about getting rich keep telling me to utilize my assets to earn additional income but that is illegal in my state.

Please send help.

[dagw]

I keep trying to develop the habit of having wealthy parents

If you really cannot manage that, then your second best option is to have a wealthy spouse. It's not ideal, but it's better than nothing.

[jnwatson]

Reminds me of The Onion: "McCain pointed to his personal success in marrying a wealthy beer heiress to prove how the plan could benefit every American."

[adventured]

The same plan John Kerry went for. It's a tremendous strategy. If you can't earn it, marry it.

[raducu]

Or at least be born at the exact right time in the right country when a new market emerges.

Bonus bragging points if you're born with a certain ethnicity that has no options but to enter in that niech market because the mainstream ones have high moats around them.

[andreilys]

utilize my assets to earn additional income but that is illegal in my state

What state would make investing illegal?

[lowercased]

Possibly the poster was referring to a different set of assets.

[llampx]

Onlyfans is legal

[breck]

All states make it legal for men to give each other brain damage in a boxing ring for money. Maybe women should make the rules.

[newsclues]

It’s a prostitution joke

[SuoDuanDao]

You can still leave wealth to your children! Multigenerational wealth has to start somewhere.

Not sure about the second part of your question - buy different assets maybe?

[jopsen]

Putting some stonks your kids name when they are born might not be a bad idea..

There's probably some tax benefits. And a good chance they won't touch it for the first 18 years -- By which time you might have given them a taste for compounding interest :)

[SuoDuanDao]

My parents were of modest means, but they set aside some money for 18 years to help me with educational expenses. Not only did it help me graduate debt-free, but discussing what my education fund was doing as I was growing up left me much more comfortable than most members of my generation handling finances.

[lotsofpulp]

The only tax benefit is if your state offers one for 529 plans.

[RhysU]

Not true. Realize capital gains each year in a UTMA account up to the kiddie tax limits. File a return for the kids instead of putting their gains on the parent's return. It can be significant over 18 years.

[lotsofpulp]

Thanks for the correction! Although, would this make a difference if you were just investing in an ETF and not selling and then gifting it to the child, assuming it’s less than the lifetime gift tax exclusion?

[RhysU]

While you held the ETF you would be paying income taxes on the dividends at your marginal rates. If the kid holds it in a UTMA some of those dividends would likely be taxed at the lower kiddie bracket.

Agreed, the step up at death on the cost basis would be advantageous but then you have to be dead.

[jopsen]

I live in Denmark where the first 10k USD capital gain is in a lower tax bracket.

And there is a scheme with yearly taxation of unrealized gains, but at a much lower rate. However, it has a per-person cap around 16k USD.