My Dad always told me, “At 18 you’re a man, and you will be out of the house.” It seems that my job at 18 was to prove that I can make it in the real world. And so I did. I joined the United States Marine Corps and became a Master Gunnery Sergeant, which is the rank of E-9. Along the way, I went to war in Afghanistan, met my beautiful wife, and had 2 children. Also, we bought 3 homes and started our journey towards Financial Independence and building family wealth.
However, I do not truly have a relationship with my Dad. My Mom and I are very close. Together, my mom has built a nice little empire for herself in Arizona. We have come a long together and I look forward to her spending the rest of her days under our roof with Kris, our kids, and our her grandkids.
Will I repeat the same mantra as my Dad? “At 18 you’re a man, prove that you can make it in the world”. No. Absolutely not. I do not believe in this approach any longer. I used to, but I realized that that is what consumer-based society wants. They want our children to be far from their parents. They would need to rent an apartment, eventually buy a home, new cars, and take their kids to daycare. It keeps the economy stimulated.
Worst of all, when our children are out there, “proving that they can make it”, they are at their most vulnerable state. When they are trying to pay mounting bills (rent, credit cards, student loans, etc.) their boss and job have complete control over them. They are stuck because they don’t have the resources to switch jobs. So we are signing our kids up to work for 50 years of their lives, in order to prove that “they can make it”.
The fact of the matter is, the world is already stacking the chips against our children. And once they are completely out in the world, they have to make stress-based decisions. Kris and I had to make many stress-based decisions because we didn’t have anyone else to help us. Our Moms are wonderful people, but they just were not in a position to assist us when certain harder times came around. Stress is why people turn to alcohol, drugs, pills, gambling, and suicide. I am not trying to shelter my kids from the real world, but why do they need to recreate the empire that Kris and I are building? All they need to do is add to it.
After 21 years in the military, and achieving the highest enlisted rank, my thoughts on our children have changed. The accomplishment I am most proud of in my life is staying married and raising kids. Also, keeping the relationships with my Mom and Kris’s family alive and healthy. After losing countless friends along the way, watching divorces, and seeing the effects of our drug happy society, I know now that family is the most important. All that matters is our relationship with our family.
This is the world I envision. Kris and I own a smaller home in Florida, right down the street from our third home. When my first born turns 18, he can live there. He can grab a couple of roommates, and whatever he collects from them, that will be his rent payment. He can work a job and also go to school. On the weekends we can start our own business. We can start a YouTube channel on fishing or fix up antique furniture. Whatever the case maybe. We would spend most of the weekends together, hanging out, laughing. If he gets married, his wife can stay home to raise the children. My wife would also be available full time to assist in child rearing. All he would need is add to the mini empire we are building. It would be a truly great world. The stress of the world comes from being alone. I don’t want my kids to be stressed or to be alone.
Disclosure: I am not a financial advisor or money manager, and any knowledge is given as guidance and not direct actionable investment advice. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
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