Sara McGinnis
posted in CelebritiesI have a fascination with what the rich choose to do with their money when it comes to the kids. Though what to do with a large inheritance isn't likely a question I'll ever be blessed enough to need to tackle, I find conundrum fascinating. Is it better to give kids everything -- or nothing at all?
Elton John (who is said to be worth a staggering $450 million) is one of the wealthy and famous out there who are trying to decide what's best for their kids, and the singer is erring on the side of leaving very little to Zachary and Elijah.
"Of course I want to leave my boys in a very sound financial state but it's terrible to give kids a silver spoon, it ruins their life," the 68-year-old star recently said, according to The Mirror.
"Listen, the boys live the most incredible lives, they're not normal kids, and I'm not pretending they are. But you have to have some semblance of normality, some respect for money, some respect for work."
"Having children changed everything about my life," Elton John, who is pictured here with the boys' godmother, Lady Gaga, went on to share.
"I've learned that the simplest things in life -- like having a minute with them -- are worth more than any painting, any photograph, any house or any hit record. Before we had the children we just had our lives, and would spend money because we didn't have anything else to focus on. We have really toned things down because we have enough stuff. There is nothing else we need."
Is it weird that although I have considerably less stuff than Elton and his husband, David Furnish, I also feel like there isn't much more we need? I'd take financial security for life in a heartbeat, though!
Elton and David are currently writing their wills, and facing many tough decisions.
"We're still working out the details and it's about finding the balance," he added. "I came from a very working class family and was born in a council estate house. I earned everything I did from hard work and that's the way they've got to do it as well."
It amuses me how I'm not anywhere near being in Elton's fancy shoes and I feel exactly the same way. We have many less zeros tacked onto the end of our net worth, and yet I still wonder if we're doing a good job of teaching our kids about working hard. At this moment we have one child who wants to do and be everything (including a Youtube star), and one whose big dream is to work at the local frozen yogurt place. No idea what to make of that.
Photo: Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock
More Tinseltown tots who have famous godparents:
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