1.
During a 2017 interview with The Telegraph, Gordon Ramsay said his children aren’t allowed to sit beside him and his wife on flights. “They don’t sit with us in first class. They haven’t worked anywhere near hard enough to afford that. At that age, at that size, you’re telling me they need to sit in first class? No, they do not. We’re really strict on that.”
2.
In a 2021 interview with Candis, Daniel Craig said he won’t be leaving his fortune for his kids. “Isn’t there an old adage that if you die a rich person, you’ve failed?” he asked. “I think Andrew Carnegie gave away what in today’s money would be about $11 billion dollars, which shows how rich he was because I’ll bet he kept some of it too.”
3.
Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. don’t put up with wastefulness in their home. In 2016, she told Today, “My daughter was doing this thing lately where she was asking me for a cup of milk and not drinking it. So I told her that every time she’d ask me for a cup of milk and not drink it, I would take a quarter out of her piggy bank. Someone has to pay for that milk.”
4.
During a 2017 interview with People, Viola Davis said her “number one fear” is her daughter becoming entitled. “I never had a house; Genesis has a house,” the actor said before revealing that she doesn’t buy designer clothing for her kid. “I do shop at Target, I buy all her clothes at Target or H&M. And maybe, if I’m feeling really good, Nordstrom Rack.”
5.
In a 2021 episode of the Morning Meeting podcast, Anderson Cooper shared that he has no plans to leave his kids an inheritance. “I don’t believe in passing on huge amounts of money,” he said. “I don’t know what I’ll have. I’m not that interested in money, but I don’t intend to have some sort of pot of gold for my son. I’ll go with what my parents said, which is: ‘College will be paid for, and then you gotta get on it.'”
6.
David and Victoria Beckham want their kids to understand the value of money. On an episode of The Late Late Show With James Corden, David said his children kept asking for new shoes. “It came to the point where [Brooklyn] turned 14, 14½, and I thought, ‘You know, if you want something, then go and work and you’ve got your own money.’ So, much to his dismay, we packed him off to the French café, and he works there every Saturday and Sunday for a few hours and gets his own pocket money.”
7.
During a 2016 interview with the Mirror, Elton John revealed that his kids won’t be given a silver spoon. “Of course I want to leave my boys in a very sound financial state,” he said. “But it’s terrible to give kids a silver spoon. It ruins their life. 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.”
8.
On an episode of The Talk, former co-host Marie Osmond said she’s not leaving any money to her eight kids. “You do a great disservice to your children to just hand them a fortune because you take away the one most important gift you can give your children, and that’s the ability to work. You see it a lot in rich families where the kids, they don’t know what to do and so they get in trouble. Let them be proud of what they make. I’m going to give mine to my charity.”
9.
Last year, Shaquille O’Neal told Insider he’s raising his six kids with the philosophy of “respectable nepotism.” He said if his children want money, he expects them to do their “due diligence” and draw up a “Business plan.” He continued, “Since you want me to be the bank, I’m gonna do exactly what the bank is going to do to you.”
10.
In a 2017 interview with Good Housekeeping, Julia Roberts said, “I think some people confuse unconditional love with spoiling. None of my kids would think I have a problem with that distinction.”
11.
Last year, Mick Jagger told WSJ Magazine that the Rolling Stones have no plans to sell their music catalog even if it meant half a billion dollars for their kids. He said, “The children don’t need $500 million to live well. Come on.”
12.
Mila Kunis and Astron Kutcher don’t buy Christmas presents for their kids. In 2017, she told Entertainment Tonight, “So far, our tradition is no presents for the kids… Last year when we celebrated Christmas, Wyatt was two, and it was too much. We didn’t give her anything — it was the grandparents. The kid no longer appreciates the one gift. They don’t even know what they’re expecting; they’re just expecting stuff.”
13.
On an episode of The Marie Forleo Podcast, Daymond John pointed out that kids who don’t work for an inheritance can squander money. “Look at the trust fund kids. Where are the Fords, the Carnegies, and the Mellons? What happens is the first generation makes it, the second enjoys it, and the third destroys it.” He also shared the importance of teaching his kids about work ethic, saying, “If you want a car, go work. I will match that.”
14.
In an episode of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, Jerry Seinfeld told Kevin Hart how he makes sure his kids are growing up down-to-earth. “You know what I say [when they ask if we’re rich]?” Jerry asked. “I am. You’re not.”
15.
And finally, Guy Fieri told Fox News last year that his kids need to work for an inheritance. “I told them the same thing my dad told me: ‘When I die, you can expect I’m gonna die broke and you’re going to be paying for the funeral.’ And I told my boys, ‘None of this that I’ve been building are you gonna get unless you come and take it from me.'”
Any other celebs who are teaching their kids the value of money? LMK in the comments below!
