Rich Parents Are Sharing The “Final Straw” That Made Them Cut Off Their Spoiled Kids Financially, And Wow
We asked members of the BuzzFeed Community to tell us stories about what rich kids did that made their parents cut them off. After reading these stories, I totally get it. Here are some of the wildest ones:
Note: Some submissions are from this Reddit thread.
1."I cut my kids off because they stopped showing me respect and started taking me for granted, as if it was their birthright to get my money that I worked so hard for. I let them know I can give my money to anyone or any organization I want."
—Anonymous
2."My parents cut my sister off. The story why is that she sued my parents for access to the significant stock portfolio our grandfather had left for each of us after he passed away. My parents handed it over but then cut my sister off. She'd sold off the stocks and blown most of the money on a fancy car that eventually broke down. Today that portfolio would have been worth enough to buy a rather large house."
—Anonymous
3."I cut my son off. He went to college and failed all of his classes. My other daughter, who is older, tried to tutor him. He offered to pay her to stop, using my bank account. I completely cut my son off, and he has NEVER used my money again."
—Anonymous
4."My child was in high school when I cut him off. For some bizarre reason, he and his three friends decided it would be a good idea to attempt to enter a nightclub for people 21 and older. When they were denied entry, he said, 'Just let us in! If you do, my parents will pay you some nice cash.' The bouncer laughed in his face and told him to leave. My son and his buddies walked over to their car, and as they were about to leave, one of his friends said that they should run my son’s car into the nightclub — not only would they have to pay them for damages to the car, but my son would also receive a brand-new vehicle from my husband and me."
"(Keep in mind, the car they were about to ram into the building was a new Lamborghini we had bought my son for his 16th birthday after he lied to us, saying he had passed the driving test, which was false. We found out later, and it took him a whole year before he could even drive this car.) Weirdly, my son and the rest of his friends thought this was the greatest idea they had ever heard, and went through with it. Not only were they arrested afterward, but my son also had to pay the nightclub for the damages to the building. My son was not happy after we bailed him out and told him he was not getting that new car he wanted, either."
—Anonymous
5."There was a girl in one of my college classes who lived a life of privilege. Her father owned a bunch of used car dealerships, and each day she would show up late driving a different car. One day she came in and started talking about her last resort vacation down south and how bored she was. The whole trip, she sat by the pool and was on Facebook. The professor jokingly said, 'Hope you were using Wi-Fi.' She asked what that was, and when it was explained, she replied, 'Oh I don’t need that, my phone comes with internet.' She had no idea what data charges were or roaming. She thought that a phone bill of $800 a month was normal. Her dad did not agree. He cut her off."
—Anonymous
6."My husband had what I thought was a really strange clause in our son’s trust fund. I never understood why. Then, when my son ended up getting five women pregnant in two months, the clause was triggered and he was automatically cut off. It was ironclad — he’s been on his own since."
—Anonymous
7."One of my college roommates was very rich growing up. I didn't realize just how rich until I had to explain to her what a coupon was, in very extensive detail. On multiple occasions, she bragged that she wasn't even interested in her major (philosophy), or college in general, but she was at university because her parents were requiring her to get a degree, any degree, in order to get access to her trust fund. I don't remember ever seeing her go to class, and she eventually got expelled sophomore year over academic dishonesty. I guess this was the last straw for her parents because they cut her off pretty soon after that."
"This actually served as a wake-up call. She somehow managed to get a public health degree at a different school in spite of the academic dishonesty listed on her transcript. She's doing pretty well for herself these days. We've kept in touch, and last we talked, she was considering grad school."
8."A somewhat distant relative spent all of his university years and 20s partying hard with the $100,000–$120,000 allowance his rich father gave him each year. He'd travel the world each year, going to Bali, Thailand, and Europe, and to Oktoberfest every year. At 32 or so, he decided to settle in an upscale ski resort area in the US and open a business with his fiancé. When he went to transfer his money to his US bank account, he noticed it only came to a few thousand dollars. He angrily asked the bank worker why she hadn't transferred the entire amount, only to be told that that was the entire amount. His father had cut him off without saying anything, and he just hadn't noticed. Absolute flatline."
9."A guy from my robotics group had his entire life handed to him. His dad was stupidly rich because he bought shares in an oil field that turned out to have 40 times the expected yield (turning his $100,000 investment into millions). His son decided it would be fun to go on a school trip to Philly acting rich as hell. He drove his lifted, modded SUV to a school in North Philly we were doing a robotics event at, talking to younger kids about how fun robotics is. When it was time for us to go, we left the school and saw our bus driver talking to cops."
"Five students had driven themselves down to Philly — guess which car was stolen? His $90,000 monstrosity was missing, and after two months, all that was ever recovered was his stereo from a pawn shop and his laptop. The best part: He didn't have insurance on it yet because he 'can just buy the other person's car if there's an accident.' His dad flipped out over it and cut his allowance to $200 a month and forced him to drive a beater till he saved up his own money."
10."I was cut off. My father owned the patent rights to something you find in every house. From the year after high school to my 25th birthday, I racked up numerous DWIs...in North Texas, where the headquarters of MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) are. I went from getting thousands a week for allowance, and having the best attorneys keep me out of prison, to being cut off and spending six months in county jail. I learned my lesson and never drove again with a drop of alcohol in my system."
11."When I was in high school, there was this kid we hung out with who came from a pretty rich family. We were all in the video game club, and every now and then we could bring our own sets to play on. He brought his PS4, only to find all his games gone. His parents found out he was spending all of his allowance on video games and then stealing money from his siblings to buy food, gas, clothes, and whatnot. He got on his phone, yelling at his parents about how it wasn't fair and how it was his money, so he could do whatever he wanted with it. After that, his parents cut him off."
12."In high school, I had this friend, and both of his parents were lawyers, and they were rich. Somehow he got an ATM card for some account that they either never used or didn’t monitor. Every day he would go to the ATM and get out somewhere between $200 and $400 and would use that to pay for everything for our friend group. We would leave school for lunch, and he would always pay for everyone’s food. After school, we would all go to the movies or laser tag or something, and he would pay for all of that, too. Sometimes he would just hand you $50 for no reason. I think he liked being the 'rich kid' in school and showing off. He did this every day for two years. Eventually, the bank called his parents and asked about the daily ATM withdrawals because it was so suspicious. They figured out he was doing it and they just completely cut him off and kicked him out of the house. He was 18 and had nowhere to go."
"By this time, I had already dropped out of high school and had an apartment with another friend. We let him stay with us for a few months for free. I felt terrible, since I had taken so much money and free stuff from him over the years. He basically had zero life skills and had a really hard time holding a job after that. This was 20 years ago, but I don’t think he ever recovered from it."
13."There was this kid in high school who always had the newest clothes, a brand-new off-road fitted Jeep, and those $400 G-Shock watches. Everyone was super envious of him, and to top it off, he was the most popular kid on campus. I saw him three years later, and apparently, after the night of graduation, his parents learned that he never applied to colleges, so they COMPLETELY cut him off, kicked him out, and took their Jeep back."
14.And lastly, "I went to private school for most of my life — minus high school, by my choice, so I could socialize better. But there were other kids who were wealthy who got brand-new BMW M4s and such. One of them had a modded-out, brand-new BMW. It was loud, annoying, and screamed, 'Yeah, look, I've got money!' This was a six-figure car, no doubt. He actually went to private elementary school with me, and we were good friends until he started being an absolute dumbass and flaunted his wealth like no one else. He must have had $10,000 worth of shoes alone, and lo and behold, he was in the school parking lot messing with some kids and showing off his car. As he was leaving, I guess he tried to do a burnout or something, and he fucked up the burnout and rammed right through the school wall."
"He was expelled, jailed, and cut off. I don't know where he got off to, but last I heard, he was living in a shitty apartment in the bad part of town, with his parents not trusting him with anything."
Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.