Trust Fund Babies

Yes. My friend was born under the shade of an acacia tree not yet completely ravaged by drought.

My friend is the stepson of the now-deceased founder of a major fast food chain. He (the stepson) is very obviously on the spectrum and works at one of the chain's locations, and since he is so awful with people, works there as a dishwasher. Management has received multiple sexual harassment complaints against him, but he'll never be fired because of who his stepdaddy was. He can do anything there and he won't be fired. I suspect he only works there to keep busy, because his family is rich enough that he doesn't have to work at all.

Yes- myself and my siblings for starters. All of us have worked in careers of varying types our entire adult lives. One sibling probably would not have been able to do what she has done (literary agent) without the family help. Two siblings retired a bit early, the other 3 including me have worked last 65 and need not do so financially. We are all Democrats, we are all philanthropic, and we all get along. I know others I grew up with mostly in the same boat and a couple others since adulthood. All are nice, grounded, good folks. Some of them have never worked (for salary) but all have been productive and stable. I know one who battled addiction all his life and died in his late 59s.

That’s my experience.

Late 50s

That would be me.

The worst ones are those who think they are extremely talented artists, when they’re obviously not. I knew this girl more than 20 years ago who smugly told me — eyes closed — that she had been told she was a very talented singer. Never heard from her again.

Unclear why you are friends with this person R2

Yes my arch-enemy in life. His grandfather was a super big Wall Street guy, owned a seat on the exchange. This kid was a sack of poison - a total pock-marked angry queen who insisted he was "straight." He hated me because in our group of friends I came out like it was no big deal - and also, not to go there, but I'm much better-looking than him. I found out much later how much shit he talked about me, how I wasn't rich, blah blah. Then when he finally came out of the closet, he hit on me big time. It was horrifying.

He never worked, always had an expensive car, dropped in and out of college. All on his family's dime. He then moved to LA, became a meth head and fleeced money from all of our friends when he was cut off from his trust fund.

Last I heard he was sober, a "counselor" and back on the family gravy train. Nice life if you can get it I guess.

That's not actually a trust fund, OP, that's having rich and generous parents or grandparents.

Trust funds are administered by someone at the bank or investment company that oversees the trust and they decide what is reasonable above and beyond the annual disbursement.

I grew up with a lot of people who had both - overly generous parents and actual trust funds.

Among both, there are a sizable number who have the sort of jobs that are interesting and rewarding but don't necessarily pay a whole lot of money (documentary film maker.) But more just have the same sort of job they'd have had otherwise - lawyer, banker, etc., and just have a much bigger apartment and country house than their salary would otherwise allow for, take better vacations, belong to more expensive clubs, etc.

I've met people from smaller cities who had moved to NYC from Darkest Flyoverstan and were not happy that their family name meant nothing to anyone here and others who were thrilled to not have to deal with the perceptions they faced back home.

I have met a handful of people with trust funds - two, to be exact, who seemed completely out of touch with the real world in a George Bush never having been to a supermarket kind of way, where you felt like you were talking to someone who'd just been dropped on Earth from another planet.

Yes.. Well I know of someone. His Parents owned 2 pawn shops here in southern West Virginia. He's totally smarmy and so was his Father. His Mother worked in one of the pawn shops and wore practically every piece of jewelry that she could. There's nothing worse than people who have money in an area like this. About 5 yrs ago though, the FBI raided them on gun and drug charges. There was a whole bunch of fall out and the Son and his friend went to prison. I guess the Father was involved, but never charged. He suddenly started appearing around town in a wheel chair. The Mother ( who was always an uppity bitch) hardly ever showed her face again. The parents both died fairly recently, and the Son and his half Brother are locked in a battle for what's left.

Yeah, I 've known some. One is in her sixties now and is a bit of a fruitcake. She lives in an apartment and hasn't worked in years. When she did work, it was little artsy jobs. I've known some other people like that. There's enough money that they live where they want, but unless they're working, they don't live in a way that seems particularly affluent--it's more like having a very nice safety net. I'm sure it's different with large trust funds.

I wish I had been born a Trust Fund Victim.

Yes, one of my friends. She goes on luxury vacations all the time and doesn’t understand why I dont travel more.

Because i dont have a trust fund like her and sometimes gas station coffee is the extent of my treats

I have cousins who are Mafia princesses and are set for life. Does that count?

They went to college but never had careers. Married men from similar backgrounds. Corrupt, ostentatious, cheap. Gaudy, over the top custom-built houses. Their charity involvement is unethical and self-serving like Trump's. They are slumlords like Kushner. They've never helped anyone, ever, anywhere except themselves. Vile human beings like their father.

One of my client's is a trust fund baby. Old Boston money. It's the worst of both worlds. Growing up cloaked in privilege and feeling entitled to the biggest and best, and at the same time insecure because the trust only allots so much money per month and certain things have to wait until enough has been released. Her trust and her doctor's salary are not enough to keep up her lifestyle indefinitely. She goes through money like water, doesn't know the value of anything.

My late husband. His grandfather had established a trust fund so he and his sisters would be able to attend any schools they wanted without worrying about the cost.

If did not go sn intended and i’ll leave it at that

R9 was posting with a smirk on her ugly face like Templeton the Rat from Charlotte’s Web.

Actually, cunt… the person did have a TF. Did I say they didn’t? Because the parents gave lump sums for houses means they didn’t have a trust? So obtuse.

My maternal grandfather set up trusts for my two siblings and I. So I was one for four years - age 21 to 25 - until my father took my mom to the cleaners in divorce court. It was strongly suggested that we sign our trusts over to our mother. Can't remember how we actually did that, but we were happy to do it.

I'm more familiar with a semi-current situation with a (now former) gay couple. K is American; E is from Mexico. They were never married. E has the trust fund and family money. They had a beautiful home E bought, and he told K he had no say whatsoever in decor or furniture since he was paying for it. Whenever family came up to visit it was very secretive and of course the family held its money close. E drove 7 Series and S Class cars. K had a Ford Ranger pickup. The end came when K discovered he was not in E's will. They'd been together over 10 years! But K had enough.

"for my two siblings and I" - Don't you mean for "my two siblings and me", r18?

[quote] Because i dont have a trust fund like her and sometimes gas station coffee is the extent of my treats

Are you talking about the "coffee" drinks that come out of those big, rectangular urns with the spigots? You can choose "Vanilla Latte" or whatever and the water comes out scalding hot.

Anyway, I was addicted to those for a while. Really hot, good, and rich.

People always make such a big deal out of trust funds but they're a relatively simple legal device and not something that's really a huge deal. However, yeah, when you get those people who are beneficiaries of trusts that hold major assets, it's trippy. One of my friends had a grandparent who started a successful medical device company and she and her siblings live off trusts set up by him. No idea of the exact value but it's at least 10 million, could be way more. But they really don't live extravagantly. Modest house, no Euro cars or luxury items. She and her partner do a lot of amazing travel, like going into jungles and camping with monkeys or something like that, and they are able to do things like start small businesses with ease (my friend is on her second coffee shop), She can also do weird stuff like buy cars on the side of the road and not care if they're lemons or not. She bought some retro pickup truck while on vacation for $6k, drove the thing for three months before it conked out and then bought another car. $1000 to her is what $5 is to me.

Similar experience to R13. He's on vacation more than he's at work (he's a documentary filmmaker and you haven't seen anything he's made because he hasn't finished anything yet - he in his mid 30s for reference), and the vacations are 5 star. I remember him mentioning that there were paparazzi outside the last location because Kanye West was staying there at the same time.

He does a lot of coke and dates beautiful, fucked up stripper after beautiful, fucked up stripper. He is educated enough and comfortable enough in elite company to hold his own in conversation, but his interests and knowledge in other people and the world is shallow. He is also unable to understand why I don't travel more. He has a personal stylist. His whole family are Trump voters and he hid it from me for years that he was, too.

His main hobby is himself and exploring the depths of himself via therapy. He speaks in the way people who have been in therapy since they were 5 speak, all the jargon etc. There is much dark talk of childhood trauma and pain, of fixing relationships with his parents and especially his mother who, again, he has always vaguely implied was responsible for some kind of horrific abuse whilst dad was just absent working. Within the last year he finally felt free to discuss his past with me and the "trauma" is that his mother went back to work when he was a baby. I suppose it's not my call what is and isn't traumatizing but no joke this man has built a whole persona on having a rough and abusive childhood and it really is all about his mother going back to work and his therapist convincing him that has left him with a permanent would that will never heal.

He's actually a pretty boring guy.

Past a certain point, they're insufferable. A very high percentage of them become serious drug addicts. Aimlessness in life is corrosive.

[quote] Anyway, I was addicted to those for a while. Really hot, good, and rich.

R20, are you talking about the coffee or the trust fund babies?

Ive known 3 .2 were women. 1 of the women was a plastic surgery and pill addict who never worked a day in her life and was such a screwball she couldnt keep a man to save her life. She was rich and okay looking,but never kept a man more than a few weeks. The 2nd lady was a very friendly,warm and down to earth person who lived well but not ostentatiously .You know shes not poor,but you really wouldnt realize she has millions.

The guy I knew was a trust fund baby from a newspaper family .Ridiculously rich. Lived very well,but not in a Versace and Gold jewelry kind of way. He was a very nice man,and very generous .Incredibly smart too. His house was truly a mansion. Right on a river,and he had beautiful things everywhere. He also had help that came in daily.That was 40 years ago and I often wonder what happened to him but Ive never found a trace of him on the net.

For those of you that have friends with sizeable trust funds, are those friends ever generous with you? Nothing extravagant. Like picking up the tab for dinner.

Yeah, the term trust fund can be pretty misleading sometimes. I've known people with them and there really wasn't much in them. You'd be broke in a year if you tried to live off of one.

R18 it has to be Enrique and Kyle

I know one. She’s miserable & unproductive. Suspicious. Lonely. Isolated. Other than that, she’s delightful. She once tried to explain taxes to me. I laughed.

I wonder about the Kennedy trust fund set up by Joe. As much money as it probably has as the number of his descendants keep growing won't their shares get smaller and smaller? I wonder how much the youngest generation gets now.

I know a lot of these types. One really wealthy family I know bought all their kids houses before they even married. Rented them luxury apartments until they did. Paid all their bills etc... funded stupid shit like films that went nowhere.

They're pretty unavoidable in LA. I feel like most of my friends here come from money. One of my dearest friends is kept on a short leash (her parents will help her out if she gets in a jam, but she's expected to work and has an ordinary apartment), but the second her parents die, she's going to be RICH.

Another of my friends is a nice guy, but I don't understand why his parents put up with him. They bought him a house in Beverly Hills so he can pursue a filmmaking career. It's been over 5+ years, and he has nothing to show for it. But he spends a lot of time at the Bowl.

I have found that people who have never made decisions based on economics, meaning the income they themselves generated from working, lack seriousness. They tend to be dilettantes.

They've never had the rent bill looming, or had to delay necessities for a week, or else they'd run out of food and transportation funds to commute to work until payday. They just don't live in the same world most other people live in and they develop bizarre priorities and can rarely distinguish between their wants and needs. I can't deal with them and they almost always are shitty coworkers.

My brother-in-law. From an old money family in Britain. He's a genetic research doctor (working on drugs for maladies), and have always had the best things, but doesn't flaunt it in anyone's faces. My sister is very lucky. He's quite witty, and an absolute nerd. He co-owns a company that hasn't patented anything yet, but the company is expanding, and he just bought a new topless BMW, so maybe the family is helping out.

During the pandemic, his grandmother in Israel wasn't doing well, and her last dying wish was to visit all the great museums in Paris, so his father chartered a private plane and tours for her. He also offered to charter a plane during the pandemic for my mother to fly from Chicago to my sister for the birth of her grandchild, but my mother demurred. However my mother will tell you at a pin's drop the cost was $22,000- she's very status conscious.

When they were engaged, my sister + BIL were always flying to India, Dubai, Italy, Japan, for all of their friends weddings.

I'd like to know if anyone has ever known a trust fund baby that was kind and generous.

Money isn't everything and I think they have a great disadvantage over people who don't have money. Thy never really learn what it is like to be on the other side and they never know what it is like to make such great accomplishments and to succeed in life and know that they earned it themselves.

I would never have wanted to be a trust fund baby and I have always been poor.

[quote] I wonder about the Kennedy trust fund set up by Joe. As much money as it probably has as the number of his descendants keep growing won't their shares get smaller and smaller? I wonder how much the youngest generation gets now.

Those 3rd, 4th, and 5th generation Kennedys probably get money from the 2nd generation Kennedys who made a lot of money, as well.

R30 I believe Trust Funds can also include investments that generate money. For instance 4% of 1M is about $40k a year.

"During the pandemic, his grandmother in Israel wasn't doing well, and her last dying wish was to visit all the great museums in Paris, so his father chartered a private plane and tours for her." - Is this when all the museums in Paris were closed, r34?

"He also offered to charter a plane during the pandemic for my mother to fly from Chicago to my sister for the birth of her grandchild" - During the pandemic, when it was impossible to travel?

“I'd like to know if anyone has ever known a trust fund baby that was kind and generous.”

They almost don’t exist because of the paranoia induced by their family hammering into them to be discreet, or that everyone will be after their money.

The kind and generous rich people I’ve known were all self-made.

I have known multiple people who are beneficiaries of irrevocable family trusts. One friend recently received a large distribution when a 100 year family trust was dissolved. Real estate is often held in corporations which are part of the trusts so they always have nice places to live but may not qualify for a mortgage to buy something else. A "family office" can handle all of the financial and legal obligations of the beneficiaries. One thing I've observed, there is never enough money to buy what the beneficiaries want or feel that they are entitled to. There are routinely a lot of lawsuits between beneficiaries and always lawsuits to dissolve trusts. A lot of money is spend on club memberships and dues. Overdrawn bank accounts and maxed out charge accounts are common. These families always have legacy connections at the best schools so it's only the dumb ones who don't go to the best schools. Once trusts are dissolved the beneficiaries spend all the money within ten years, often by making bad business decisions and by being sitting ducks for ill conceived schemes.

r38, it was the first or 2nd week of March of 2020, so maybe it was easier to charter a private plane. My mother didn't get to see the Golden Child until 18 months later. Then she moved from Chicago to 5 minutes away from my sister this year.

Ah I don't know when the museums were closed, but that was the story I was told. Perhaps they made an exception for a wealthy dying woman.

How did your sister meet her husband [r41]? Do they work in the same field? Navigate overlapping social circles?

Yes, though his parents were not born wealthy. They came into it with investments that paid off.

He’s very much a liberal stereotype:

crunchy, granola hippie that knows best for all - while never having to struggle. College dropout. I remember him in his 20s being pissed he couldn’t do something because it required a credit card and was just screaming how credit cards are stupid and people who have them are idiots (he obviously did everything debit).

So while not the nouveau riche jet setting doucebag trope, still a trope nonetheless.

I have a friend who is a chocolate heir and another who has a very famous actor grandfather. Both complete fuck-ups but I actually like them.

The Rollins family. Trainwrecks, especially the sex addict one who married the gold-digger nanny (Danielle Rollins ex-husband).

My sister is married to one. He's a conservative doucebag. My sister is a hippie dippy Green Party magical crystals type.

A distant relative is loaded, this working class woman married extremely well. The husband's parents couldn't stand her, yet allowed him to marry her, providing she "learn a skill". This woman was a high school dropout and utterly lazy. In order to appease her inlaws, she went to secretarial school, then eventually went to college. Last I heard, she worked in daycare.

Thanks to the husband's wealthy family, they own three properties and spend one month every year in Europe. That's in addition to all the small trips they take during the year. They both work, for "something to do", a joke in itself, as the money they earn is a mere pittance, their salaries probably cover their weed and booze allowance.

Because there are no other younger relatives (the deceased relatives never had kids) every time someone drops dead on the husband's side, he gets another million dollars or inherits some expensive house or condo which they inevitably sell and then get yet more money. They are also supporting their own extended family, who are equally lazy stoner grifters. Thankfully, I rarely see these awful people.

I maybe have but didn't know it. When I think of trust fund babies I think of at least semi lives of leisure supported by family money. More commonly I've simply known people from wealthy families who get a lot of support. They have good educations and full careers - but parents are paying for things like education, homes, support for any grandchildren, etc. And of course these people inherit substantial money eventually.

r43- They both were in NY (she was going to Pratt?) and were set up by a mutual friend. Their wedding (maybe 7 years ago?) was at least $250,000 (catered practice dinner by Red Cafe? Red Kitchen?), penthouse suites at Dream and the next hotel by it, Louboutin shoes, married at the Bronx Botanical gardens with some really great food, huge buses to ferry people, post brunch at the Standard. Then they got the Chelsea walk up as a wedding gift.

She's lived a very charmed life, but strangely is a very chill and caring person. Maybe all the travelling she did as a teen (went away every summer to Europe/Australia to escape the parents-we have a mother in common-and did a Semester at Sea). Hasn't really worked to support herself (parents paid for her flat in NY).. She's not trust fund, but she's the person that r49 has described.

yes! she started a new age church and her mother left the church the trust fund. sneaky!

another.., is a totally laid back stoner dude (i knew another one of those actually). but he did not pay child support for years. if something came up he would pay but it was not regular. the mom is also a friend. she worked but the kids were on medicaid and food stamps! their private schools were paid with opportunity scholarships.

the mom finally took him to court for child support and then he became freer with the money. idk but maybe that flipped the switch for him. he is quite generous now, for example providing yearly vast vacations for multiple family members. he paid for her house renovation, after letting the kids live their young lives as paupers. very odd.

but the kids are doing well, except his incel clone. but i guess that is to be expected.

he also has a "buddy" on his compound which is like his man servant...idk...but he did tell me about his soutmaster molesting him one night coming back from the bars in college. no, i did not go there.

but he has promised the wife a new house on the compound and proxy if something happens and his checking account he set up for his house reno with a couple million in it.

as horrible as it sounds, he is a really nice guy.

I'm in my 30s and have a relatively small trust fund ($300,000). I inherited it from my rich, narcissist adopted grandmother who made my adopted mother's life a living hell.

I don't touch it unless there is an ABSOLUTE EMERGENCY. The trust officers require a legitimate reason if I want to withdraw funds. At a low point in my 20s, I tried to declare bankruptcy rather than use money from my trust (yes, eyeroll).

Anyway, I feel really conflicted about having a trust fund. Incredibly blessed and grateful, but I've never relied on it as a source of income.

I know two, both born into very wealthy families. Both are now attorneys, partners at top tier law firms. They are very good at their jobs and work extremely hard, do not rest on their families' wealth.

yes, she begged for funds for private school and the brother, trust manager, turned her down. for many things actually.

perhaps he has hit some age where he has more control.

Real talk, many are struggling to avoid hiring a lawyer, doctor or PhD therapist from this demographic. The sad thing is that most aforementioned professionals and judges are from this demographic, so we are destined to fail at finding an understanding representative. If you also become aware of the concept of grade inflation that has taken place in the last 10 years, it becomes even more concerning. That’s all I have to say

Yeah - the one I worked to set up for myself - at 50. It’s nice - but as someone says, it can never be enough unless you stop wanting stuff.

I know a trust funder who got really into theatrical clowning. This description captures it perfectly: “Theatrical clowning emphasizes character and relationships rather than circus skills. Material is created by conceptualization and improvisation, often utilizing one's own life experiences, though not strictly autobiographical. Therefore, [bold]the audience is witness to a personal portrait of human folly.[/bold]”

I have a close friend who is one. I also know a couple and another one is the friend of a close friend. The thing about trust funds is that they vary in size and, unlike someone above tried to claim, they are not misleading. The point is to allow a person to have advantages that they would not have otherwise. The person who is one and doesn't understand the limitations, however, is bound to be in trouble.

My close friend had 3 siblings and they were all set up with trusts. Unfortunately the father married a Las Vegas showgirl gold digger late in life who managed to get the rest of their inheritance for herself and her daughters. Their accountant was bought off so the litigations was settled. She can do what she wants but is careful with her money. She is an artist who actually can live on her income and has won awards internationally. She has always been able to work on her art even when she was not earning what she is now. She is also an active member of her community, doing a lot of volunteer work in the arts. Unfortunately, 2 of her siblings went through their trusts making bad decisions (including large donations to a cult) and ended up barely making ends meet. Another person I know also lives fairly simply but is able to travel when she wants to do so or make other purchases if she arranges for them in advance. She is active in the community as well. The friend of a friend has a larger fortune but she has cancer. She's traveled the world looking into and receiving a variety of treatments. She personally knows a lot of experts in her type of cancer. She was stage 4 and is still alive well over a year or two later, so she is neither naive nor stupid. She can afford to do whatever she wants. I believe she is currently living in England.

I've lived in NYC for more than 25 years now, and I've known a lot of trust-fund babies. It's a great destination for them, as it's a city that has an incredible amount going on all the time, and at different times, so no one is going to judge you if you are not working a 9-5 desk job. Plus because like attracts like, those with very generous funds can meet others like themselves, so they have friends they can socialize with who don't have to, you know, work.

The ones who are happiest actually set goals for themselves and try to do something. They have the option of doing anything, but they need to do SOMETHING.

Are they generous with others? That has not been my experience actually.

They are very conscious of not being taken advantage of by grifters. No, they won't give you money to pay 'your' bills. Their generosity is more charity/cause based. Giving in to endless requests for financial aid from family and friends is the quickest way to go broke.

Trust funds for younger people often are set up to allow an annual withdrawal of only 4-5 percent, which theoretically would not deplete the principal As the beneficiary gets older, the annual amount of withdrawal may increase.

But a young person with a $5m trust fund may only receive $80k annually, which is not enough to live on in a place like NYC,

What a trust fund like this does however, is allow the beneficiaries to pursue careers they love, (academia, arts, social work, non-profit admin, etc). by supplementing the low salaries so they can do the kind of work they want and still maintain an comfortable lifestyle.

My grandparents on both side set me up with modest trust funds. (300K from my paternal grandpa, 250K from my maternal grandpa) I will get the lumpsum (with capital appreciation) when I turn 30, but I started getting dividends at age 20.

As I said it's modest. I can't relate to the extravagant lifestyles mentioned by posters above and not even to most of my friends growing up. It's however helpful in the little things like not scrimping on an apartment, affording trendy restaurants, clothes, club memberships, occasional but still frugal travel, etc.

In early 1970 there was a trust fund hippie named Michael Brody who decided he wanted to give away all his money. He had about $10M (corrected with inflation), but he started bragging that he was a billionaire. He committed suicide three years later.

I worked with one at my law firm. She's around 35. We hired her to be a secretarial floater/office runner/file clerk. She was one of the nicest people you'd ever meet but she never got how to do her job. She had to take time off now and again for court appearances for a DUI she got right before lockdown and she had an ankle monitor. She moved into a $700k house and lived alone. We did a clerk and recorder search and found out the house is owned by her dad's trust so she doesn't pay a penny to live there.

Nice gig if you can get it.

Hi! Would any of the male trust fund babies be interested in a German gay guy like me??

A friend of mine dated a girl who grew up with a trust fund. Both of her parents were deceased. She was a bit of a flake, after her relationship with my friend ended she joined a cult that fleeced her of a lot of $$. She eventually got out of it.

R66, hello R63 here. Back in school I had an absolute crush on my classmate, a son of a German envoy. We also had a school trip to Berlin and yes the guys are gorgeous. Just sharing. You would find better luck with the guys here with 6 figure trusts lol.

During the first week f law school I met 2 people who stated they were there because their siblings were attornies and they needed to protect their trust funds. I doubt either ever practiced.

[quote] It's however helpful in the little things like not scrimping on an apartment, affording trendy restaurants, clothes, club memberships, occasional but still frugal travel, etc.

Trendy restaurants, clothes, and club memberships can deplete a modest trust fund.

"Laidback stoner" dude (at R52) who only paid child support when court-ordered sounds like an asshole. Kids grew up as paupers but now Stoner Dude is more free with his money. People mistake perpetually stoned people for being mellow and laid back.

The trust funders I've known like to announce how expensive things are as if you don't pay the same prices with money you earned bartending and by corporate wage slavery!

They're almost always bad tippers because they have to "watch their spending"....yawn.

Trust funds can be set up in so many different ways. As mentioned sometimes the trust is set up so the trustee has very strict parameters as to how much and when and for what he can distribute money to the beneficiary. Some trusts are set up for mentally ill or disabled children so at least their basic needs are met for the rest of their lives while not making them ineligible for various government benefits. Some are set up so all the money is distributed within a few years. Some can go on for fifty years or more like the Howard Hughes trust. Some can only distribute the interest and only touch the principal under certain circumstances.

Yes and I really liked the woman. A lot of people were put off by things she would say but I found her hilarious. At a party with her once, a drunk guy said something lascivious to her and she told him that she would stab his eyeball with her heel if he said anything like that to her again. She was great. And fun.

R70, You are right. But I'm not living on the dividends of my trusts. It only supplements my income. Ya get me? Admittedly, I do get some help - though not extravagant! - from my parents time to time.

Like I've said, I've yet to get the lumpsums (at 30) so it won't be depleted anytime soon.

[quote]They are very conscious of not being taken advantage of by grifters. No, they won't give you money to pay 'your' bills. Their generosity is more charity/cause based. Giving in to endless requests for financial aid from family and friends is the quickest way to go broke.

A friend knows a very wealthy Pakistani/British trust funder who is a complete flake, they met when the trust funder worked for awhile at a downtown NYC art gallery. Not sure why this trust funder was there, she knows nothing about art.

This woman claims to be an economist and activist, who wants to "empower poor and working class women". A few times a year she starts up these lame charity drives which barely help the people she claims to care about helping. It's easy to see she's all about getting famous, she has the money, but craves fame. A true activist doesn't post dozens of photos showing her partying and traveling, while begging others for their money for her charity drives.

This woman wants to be know as a serious activist, yet spends most of her time taking vacations and posing with her trust fund buddies on social media. Under a photo of her on a yacht or on some exotic trip, she'll post about her charities. Dumb as a box of nails. Who wants to give their hard earned money to such a person? People would rather give to legit charitable organizations.

Every few years she moves to a different expensive city in Europe and the US, she lived in Manhattan for about five years, this was while claiming to be a curator at the aforementioned NYC art gallery, a job which she obviously got through a connection. This woman has no background in any kind of art. She got bored with that job and, I guess, of partying, then left for London, then Paris, then Islamabad. Last I heard, she was back in NYC attending college, yet again. Of course, her various degrees are in obscure subjects she'll never find work in.

This shallow woman is now around 38-39, she doesn't have any sort of serious focus. Guess it's easy to live this way when you don't need money. Especially, when there is no time frame to actually earn a living, as the money train never stops. When the father finally drops dead, there will be yet more money for her and her siblings, his business will continue. Her father is one of the wealthiest men in Pakistan.

As far as hanging with people from lower socio-economic backgrounds, she gives a lot lip service to the working class and the poor, but makes sure to spend her time with people just like her.

What is extremely odd about this woman, looking at her, you wouldn't know her father is extremely wealthy, her clothes look as if she bought them at Goodwill or an Oxfam charity shop. Guess her father's money goes up her nose and towards all her traveling or she simply doesn't care about fashion. This woman has no sense of style whatsoever.

R76 the wealthy, especially the women, love to hide their vanity behind the guise of charity. They’re all full of shit, they spend tons of money on parties that they all write off and get drunk and take pictures of themselves in gowns at, to raise a fraction of the cost of the party for charity, usually a charity which then spends a small fraction on the disadvantaged and ill.

R77, another odd thing about this woman, when she was in NYC she lived in a large duplex her father owned, but she had two female roommates. She sure didn't need roommates to help with her bills.

My friend said this woman cannot be alone or without constant attention. and praise. That explains the social media posts where anonymous strangers post about her never ending vacations in a positive manner, while others, usually her friends, post how "beautiful she is".

This woman also lies a lot, one of her close friends, an actual activist who puts her money where her mouth is, started a school in Pakistan, but she claimed this school was her idea and she opened it. This woman contributed nothing to this school. Her friend gave an interview explaining how she alone started the school with the her background in education and the financial help of her mother.

This shallow trust find woman had tons of BFs, but cannot get serious with any of them because none appear up to her level of perfection or have as much money as her daddy.

I’ve know a few - ranging from the trusts on the mid six to low seven figures to one fellow with a huge one. The ones with six/seven figures all went to college and further (law, medical school, MBA, PhD). Like a lot of us in our 20’s they had their party time, but grew out of it with no lasting damage. I believe all used their trusts to also purchase their homes. They do enjoy nice lives, with the trusts enabling them to do things that would be an extravagance for 90% of us. They’re also not cheap.

The one guy with the huge trust fund however is all kinds of crazy. To give you an idea of the kind of money we’re talking about, his family are the type to have homes around the world that are more or less empty a good 75-80% of the time, but kept up just in case someone shows up in X city. The guy was given the family co-op in NYC when he came to graduate school here, but didn’t like the location or the fact there was doorman and an attended elevator, so he just went out one day -literally one day- and bought a townhouse in the West Village for cash. He has a very specific type of guy he goes for too - beefy to chubby blue collar hairy Irish looking guys. He used to fly all over to hook up, or fly them to NYC. He did film most of his encounters, and would post them online to try and get others of the same type to contact him. To be fair, he had a good bit of success - a muscled top with a fat uncut cock. But he was also really creepy. He had no qualms about stalking guys not caring if they were married, straight, partnered, not into him, etc. and either offering money for a night of sex type of thing or if his stalking turned up some info, he’d try to use that to leverage sex. He was also really cheap - the type when out for dinner with a group would break down his portion of the check vs just splitting it 4 or however many ways. Last I heard about him, he’s still in NYC, none of our mutual friends bother with him, he chunked up quite a bit, and has started going on bi sites finding the types he likes to get male part of the couple on his own, then using that to get more sex under threat of letting wifey know husband likes being fucked. Truly vile person at the end of the day.

R73, has reminded me that my half-sister is considered a trust funder- after my father died, my brother and I set up a trust for her- she's in a state funded mental health establishment (she's paranoid schizophrenic). It'll only be around $90,000 after the probate is done (it's been 4 years now, and we still don't have it closed). It's too much money to give to her directly- she would lose her state funded status, but not enough to support her for the rest of her life.

Someone post a social media like Instagram for a TFer so we can analyze

The Kennedys have enough money to keep up appearances, but they do not have a giant pile like they used to. It's the appearance that counts, then everyone thinks that the giant pile still exists.

I have been picking up dinner checks and helping out friends for decades. I don’t lend money, I give it to avoid any recriminations.

R42 Yes even during Covid some major museums quietly had private tours for big donors or future donors. I think many of you would be surprised at how differently life is for the very rich. And how the same rules that you live by simply don't apply to them. It's kept quiet of course.

This woman was outside of the EU, r84, there was no way she would have been permitted to enter when travel was banned, especially a person who was on the brink of death.

Do you have any evidence for that claim about the museums, by the way, r84? Because it was governments who closed the museums down, not museums boards. Hotels were closed too.

I toured the Vatican when it was closed.

R85 Lots of people still travel into and out of countries when travel is banned. You just don't hear about it. Military, diplomatic folks, doctors and media as examples. I think you have an impression that "governments" abide by their own rules. Maybe somewhere like China it is controlled more tightly. Again, the rich and powerful do as they please. Google this: travel into the eu during a travel ban

I only get 125k a year

R21’s friend has the life I’d love to lead :/

R85 You will never ever get the evidence you want. They are rich and privileged for a reason.

The Illuminati have their own passports.

r79 sounds horrible, but if I'm honest, I'd love to sit down for brunch with him to heat him spill all the tea on the "straight" or married men he was able to bed due to money or extortion. It'd be like hearing a live action thread on Hollywood, but with run of the mill unknown whores.

I know if I won that $2 billion Powerball, I'd be paying hot men for sex. Sexuality be damned.

I knew two people when I lived in the Bay Area. They were both gay. One was a lesbian who was a member of the Levi-Strauss family. She had been married and divorced with a couple of kids. She came out when she was in her forties and worked as a teacher and lived with a butch Latina. I thought she acted like she’d been bullied or taken advantage of most of her life. Another was a gay guy who worked as sn architectural designer. He said he could live off his trust fund if he lived very simply so he had to work. I met him on a Saturday night at the White Horse in Oakland. He was wearing earplugs because of the noise and told me he always went out after watching SNL! He went to the White Horse and always picked someone up very quickly because he didn’t like bars (or noise). He took me to a very nice brunch afterwards. We got together a few times after that and we became friends but he wasn’t very intimate.

I remember seeing the Brody couple interviewed on the Today show when I was a kid. I remember them saying they wanted lots of children and she was hoping for multiple births.

[quote] Yes my arch-enemy in life.

How fascinating! An arch enemy! You're lucky as you are as much defined by your enemies as by your friends

Anyone know how these foreign trust funders are allow to stay in the US, and other countries, beyond the usual six month visitor visa limit? Guess their rich families are paying off 'someone'. Hmmmm

R87, a dying old lady from Israel is not a diplomat or member of the military. What you're saying is that this old lady, who was about to die, managed to both get an exit from Israel, an entry into France although entry was banned, and had otherwise completely shut museums open up and make themselves operable (which requires a little more than just getting the guy with the key) just for her. Where did she stay in Paris, considering the hotels were closed? The empty streets and closed must have been depressing.

Governments closed the museums. A museum couldn't just open up for a private visit. That would have been breaking the law. No, the law wasn't bent for the rich and Paris museums already have plenty of very rich patrons, they don't need to break the law to satisfy one rich person.

Perhaps this old lady got her trip to Paris after the lockdown had ended. In which case, I'm not sure why the poster needed to reference the pandemic because it would not have been relevant to travel at that point.

The old lady story was obviously fake. Let's move on.

Yes, one of my dearest friends is a trust fund kid (oil and gas money). But you would never know it to meet him.

When I first met him 30+ years ago, he was starting out in his career (law). He had a modest one bedroom apartment with a couch, card table, folding chairs in the living room and a double bed on a metal frame in the bedroom. He could have gone to the most expensive furniture store and filled the whole apartment with expensive furniture and his parents would have covered the tab. However he furnished his home over the years as he could afford to pay for it himself.

The first time I learned he came from money was when we were discussing our university years, about 5 years into our friendship. I worked my way through university living at my parent’s home; he had a off campus condo, new Datsun Z280, and credit cards covered by his dad. When I told him I spent my summers and free time during school working, he asked why. He really couldn’t fathom having to work his way through school.

Now we are both comfortable. The disparity in our incomes has never affected our friendship. To this day, to meet him casually, you would have no idea the family money he has. I love him dearly.

He lives

Yes. My oldest friend is a trust fund baby. He hates being called that, but he is. We’ve known each other since we were 11. He’s never had an actual job, but has had a couple of boutique businesses (dog groomer, real estate) over the years.

He calls me in the middle of the afternoon to go have cocktails. No matter how many times I tell him I’m at work, it never registers. Bless his heart.

I have a lawyer friend that does that but to hit up movies. Like no, I can't and likely could never drop what I'm doing at 2 o'clock on a Tuesday to hit up a movie and drinks.

Not a trust fund kid, but still tickles me that his schedule is so flexible.

[quote] He had a modest one bedroom apartment with a couch, card table, folding chairs in the living room and a double bed on a metal frame in the bedroom.... [H]e furnished his home over the years as he could afford to pay for it himself.

This sounds depressing (card table and folding chairs in living room).

For more than a decade I worked for one of the wealthiest families in the world. As someone said earlier, most have no idea what incredible wealth will do for you. A private museum showing would not surprise me in the slightest.

One of my favorite trust-fund babies is a woman on the Upper West Side who wears vintage clothing and refers to herself as an actress and posts photos of herself in comedic and tragic poses on her website. Because that, of course, is acting.

She's a Trumper, of course.

I think we need a definition of "trust fund baby". Some of the people mentioned sound more like they are simply from wealthy families rather than living off trust funds, which, despite preconceptions, don't provide extravagantly huge amounts of money, don't necessarily last for a lifetime and are often established for educational purposes.

Private museum showings happen all the time, r103, but not during lockdowns and not simply because a rich person calls a museum and says can I have a private viewing.

They usually have good drugs (street and prescription).

I'm the poster with the wealthy dying woman anecdote. I forgot to mention that the family owns a chateau in France (apparently JayZ and Beyonce had stayed there), so it's quite possible that she lodged there and was ferried everywhere.

I’d love to be a trust fund baby. I would find a hot 24 year old twunk and use his body while living an extravagant life style. Once he got to 27 I’d dump him for a newer model 😂

R107 You are like my aunt (youngest sister of my Dad) HAHA. She always brought her young beaus to family events and every year there was a new guy. They weren't models tho, but they were definitely younger than her and she replaced them so casually.

More than a few. With some, the subject never arises directly but they have income far above that of their jobs from which they don't mind taking long gaps in between.

One friend was on his second Ph.D., living in one of the family's unoccupied houses. He planned to spend s year researching on a city and the process of finding an apartment was a novelty. I had to explain the abbreviations in newspaper real estate ads (the mode of the time). I recall deciphering "hdwd flrs," first as hardwood floors, and then to explain that, no, everyone didn't have them. He was pretty frugal from outward appearances except that his preppy clothes were good quality, that he was always buying expensive paintings at auction (and moving family.portraits out to make more wallspace. His family had a well known collection of furniture and they never bought anything of consequence, just shuffled things from one house to another, only occasionally buying a little table or use-specific piece. Occasionally he would give a detail of daily life, like meeting with his banker at one of his clubs; this explained that various legacies and trusts were the source of his income. It wasn't from working. Even when he had prestigious jobs, they paid very little.

With other people they will drop some allusion to a trust fund straight away or soon enough, and with some you don't even need the confirmation; there's no other explanation. It's part of their identity and they don't hide it.

There are also those who profess to having trust funds who don't. And no legacies or pots of gold either.

R108 they get rid of them by the time they realize that they fart and have thoughts

A person of independent means.

R97 Stranger shit happens. Let it go. I know don't want it to be true for some reason. But who knows? Could be. Move along now, hon.

Most of these people are shallow and clueless, their world is not the real world, yet, most of them won't ever admit it.

While other trust funders do not understand how the real world operates, because they've never lived in it. When you don't have to work for a living, pay bills and basically survive, you are removed from reality. Have any of you had conversations with these types? It's mind boggling.

Only catastrophic illnesses appear to be the great equalizer. For many of these trust funders, all the money in the world cannot stop them dying from some rare illness.

It's not so mind boggling, R113. Your 'real world' and theirs may be different, just as your 'real world' is not the 'real world' of someone who goes to bed hungry everyday and sees no possibility of accruing bills to later worry about paying them. Each man's world is 'real' to his experience -- and not to others.

[quote]Only catastrophic illnesses appear to be the great equalizer. For many of these trust funders, all the money in the world cannot stop them dying from some rare illness.

What? It doesn't take a rare illness to kill a trust funder. trust funders are not immune to more mundane illness or death.

I've known many people who have or had trust funds. Some are far from rich and are not likely to inherit great wealth later. Not all trust funds are created equally, nor is every trust fund a sign that someone is rich. I've also known many people who were rich for whom trust funds, if they had them, were a small portion of their income and a much smaller indicator of their assets; the money was simply deposited into their accounts the way a rent payment might appear regularly in a landlord's accounts, usually a modest or time-limited stream of income, one among others.

My daughter married one, so KA-CHING! Her hubby is the son of who is considered "the father of" a certain activity/sport , and they got married right out of grad school.

R114, by most standards, trust funders are definitely rich. You are not making much sense. Most people who don't NEED to work are quite well off.

One of my closest friends has never worked, however, he's taken his trust fund and his inherited wealth (both parents died in their 60s) and has set up a successful and helpful business, which has been doing well for over 20 years.

Some trust funders live very shallow lives, my friend did something positive with his parents wealth. My friend also doesn't live an extravagant lifestyle, despite being able to, he's very humble and kind.

My friend gives money to animal rescues and other charities, has hired several friends who needed jobs, he's a very positive kind person. I don't find this to be the case with most rich people, the more money they have, the more bitter, smug and cheaper they become.

R114, of course catastrophic illnesses are the great equalizers.

Look at Alex Trebek and so many other rich and famous people who have died over the past few years, their money sure couldn't save them from a devastating illness. These people might lived a bit longer than the Average Joe, but their money could not save them. How dense are you..

[quote]It's not so mind boggling, [R113]. Your 'real world' and theirs may be different, just as your 'real world' is not the 'real world' of someone who goes to bed hungry everyday and sees no possibility of accruing bills to later worry about paying them. Each man's world is 'real' to his experience -- and not to others.

You don't get it, do you? The majority of people in the world do not come from trust funds and/or have extremely wealthy families. Most people work to pay their bills, most haven't grown up with servants, nannies and constant traveling.

The average working US citizen isn't even considered middle class. Rich people come from a completely different world than the average working person and you damn well know it.

How do you know working class Americans don't go to bed hungry every night? Only the very poor do? You don't have to be truly destitute to be hungry, many people are making a choice between paying their outrageous rent that month or buying extra food, especially in this current climate of rich people no longer being mere millionaires but billionaires?

Do you know how many new billionaires exist in the US? How about the current political climate where so many working class people still keep voting against their best interests? Still don't get it?

Smug super rich people like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk fight unions and call their workers "lazy" and other horrible names (I know Bezos does this), Elon is basically an extremely rich mentally disturbed troll. Their audacity sure is mind boggling, these disgusting men are wealthy due to the hard work of their workers. Do they ever acknowledge this? Most rich CEOs, or whatever they call themselves these days, never acknowledge their massive wealth is due to others hard work.

Most companies also go out of their way to hire part-time workers and freelancers, they do this so they don't have to offer healthcare and other 'perks'. These CEOs will use these disposable human beings, because they know there will always be another schmuck waiting to take these soul-sucking jobs.

Lets not forget companies like Amazon and Walmart have put many mom & pop businesses out of business.

Years ago, I vowed never to work for any corporation, I never have. I set up my own small business and I couldn't be happier. Fuck corporate greed, corporate welfare and the extremely wealthy.