[hooande]

the point is that the child of a billionaire starts off with a 100% chance of being a millionaire. the rest of us can try for 50x or 100x longer than avg but the odds of getting to that level are still miniscule. and if that's the case it makes the whole endeavor seem rather arbitrary

[WalterBright]

It is not minuscule. For middle class people, the route to millionaire status is very doable. Live below your means, and regularly invest the difference.

For poor people, the route is to learn a valuable skill, move into the middle class, then apply the above.

[lordnacho]

That just moves the goal posts by a level, doesn't it? What's the chance you have a low stress upbringing that allows you to work towards such goals? Parents who are supportive and believe in that middle class dream, teachers who don't give up on you when you misbehave, enough comfort to not have to focus on immediate concerns?

[WalterBright]

You can blame your parents and teachers up until age 18, then it's on you.

[TheOtherHobbes]

Nonsense.

You can't rationally compare the life chances of someone whose parents are billionaires - with access to that network, and the best schooling, and discussions about investing over dinner - with someone born in a shack without a book in the house.

An incredibly tiny number of people will be able to do well from a near-zero start. And most will do it by being aggressively self-serving narcissists.

Everyone else is going to have a much tougher time.

[WalterBright]

Migrants who walk a thousand miles to get into the US come with nothing, yet they on average do rather well here.

> without a book in the house

Everybody has a supercomputer in their pocket with access to millions of free books.

[lordnacho]

> Everybody has a supercomputer in their pocket with access to millions of free books.

And which ones should you read?

[lordnacho]

That's one of those statements that's useful as an attitude, not so useful as an explanation.

I'm sure people can think of ways your parents influence you after the age of majority.

[WalterBright]

The point is you have a choice, and you're old enough to know if following your parents' advice is a good idea or not. At 18 it's time to grow up and take responsibility for your life.

[lordnacho]

Have you never someone who thought they had to please their parents well into adulthood?

On one hand, yes, on paper you are free when you are 18.

On the other hand, you can't be free without some sort of confidence that you'll be ok if you don't do what your parents say. And if your parents are the domineering kind, they'll have made good use of your first 18 years to keep you in their orbit.

Real life is complicated, not everyone has clarity, especially at that age.

[anoncake]

Who you are depends on your upbringing, so no, it's never on you.

[WalterBright]

> it's never on you

People are not robots.

For example, you chose to type your message. The computer did not drag your hapless body over to the computer and force you to type it in.

[anoncake]

Yes, they pretty much are. Extremely complicated, organic, robots. But that is not the point. Your choices depend on your personality and abilities, which in turn depend on your upbringing and experiences.

[doggodaddo78]

This is true. It takes money, knowledge, and connections to make money. It's like a virtuous cycle / differential equation (rate of increase proportional to the amount). A homeless person becoming a billionaire is highly-improbable vs. Steve Job's kids.