Seneca called wealth a “preferred indifferent.” It’s not good or bad but nice to have. He was right. Money does make some things better. It’s certainly better to have money than to not have it. But it’s a mistake to think that money will magically create a wonderful childhood for your kids.
It’s not true that money will guarantee your kids a good life. It’s not true that it will prevent them from feeling pain or loss. It’s not true that money is even high on their list of needs.
What kids actually want is you. What kids actually need is you. As Dear Abby quite brilliantly put it in a column back in the 1950s, “If you want your children to turn out well, spend twice as much time with them, and half as much money.”
You can’t pay someone to be there for your kids. You can’t pay someone to do the job only you can do. Sure, money can make things easier; it can buy childcare and tutors. But it will never be as important as what you can provide by being hands on, by being a good example, by showing them you care for them and value them.
The proof of this? Just think about how many great people turned out just fine without much money at all.