I just registered the other day, and haven't had a chance to post a thread in the "Hi, I am..." forum, so I guess this will be my first post here
This is an interesting topic to me, and was just thinking about it the other day. As a kid, even as young as in elementary school, I was always keenly aware of money. My family was very middle class. We didn't want for the basics (house, food, clothing, etc) but Mom and Dad didn't buy any luxuries. They weren't very social, didn't do any entertaining or traveling, and never bought anything fancy or went on extravagant vacations. They never invested in anything other than money market accounts and CDs.
They both grew up during the Depression, which I'm sure contributed to their conservative nature.
As a kid, I remember other parents driving their kids to school in "nice" cars such as Lincolns and Cadillacs, and some kids lived in very nice neighborhoods. While other kids read superhero comics like Superman and Batman, I read Richie Rich
It's never that I wanted money for money's sake (I still don't) but even at a very young age I knew that money gave you options. While to most kids, a "million dollars" was just a large number, even when I was young, I knew that kind of money meant you had more options, could probably run your own business instead of working for somebody else (as my Dad did, and worked himself practically to death), live somewhere more fun (I grew up in a small town in Alabama and hated it), etc.
My oldest sister and I didn't inherit my parents' frugal nature. I saw Mom and Dad save for years without any enjoyment of it (at least, to me) and then ended up leaving it to us kids as an inheritance. My sisters and I were always thankful they didn't want for anything basic, and were safe financially, but always sad they didn't enjoy it a little more, even if having a few little nice things here and there for themselves, which they never did.
I'm just the opposite. I can't take it with me, so I tend to spend it today and worry about tomorrow later. Which I know is 180 degrees opposite of good financial planning, but I don't regret it. I've seen some cool things in life, and had some good times, and would rather live for the moment.
I wonder how many kids grow up the opposite of their parents when it comes to money? How many kids with frugal parents grow up to be spenders, and how many kids of parents who spend money liberally grow up to be savers? That would be an interesting study.
Anyway, cool thread - thanks for posting it.