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August 07, 2021

Rich parents now sending their kids to 'money camps'

About nine years ago, with a sex tape and reality show playing off her spoiled upbringing, Paris Hilton entered popular culture and changed how we filter the legacy kid.

Before the hotel heiress became famous, legacy kids, those children of great fortune, were always derided … but behind closed doors. The public loathed their silver spoon, though perhaps we dared not speak out about how much we disliked it.

Hilton, of course, despite her later earning her own keep from reality TV and club appearances, became a punch line, and now it’s the soup of the day to openly scoff at rich kids for everything they’ve had handed to them.

Rich parents, on the other hand, seem to be fighting back. Wise to the cost of raising an heir or heiress that’s also a buffoon, more and more of the wealthy are now sending their kids to so-called “money camps” to get a handle on managing a fortune.

Certainly, while there are sons and daughters of the rich that have made good on their parents’ fortunes, there seem to be far more legacy kids you’d file sincerely under the Screw-Up category.

*Bing: How to teach your kids about money

But the wealthy aren’t stupid, and now Bloomberg Markets reports they’re treating their kids more like a business, fostering them in their youth so they’re prepared to bloom when they’re older.

According to the magazine, the rich are sending their kids to “money camps,” where they learn the principles of the fortunes they will one day inherit.

The camps, for kids six to 11, are held bi-weekly, and reportedly teach the kids everything they need to know from commodities markets to product marketing.

One game, called “business in a box,” gets the children to examine products “that aren’t obvious gold mines, such as the packaging on Apple Inc.’s iPhone rather than the phone itself,” according to Bloomberg Markets.

The money camps, run by a Missouri-based financial planning group, are still new, and only about 30 kids have gone through the program to date.

Another 20 or so older legacy kids, high school and college-age heirs-to-be, have taken courses on budgets and taxes at the request of their parents.

By Jason Buckland, MSN Money

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Gordon PowersGordon Powers

A long-time fund company executive, Gordon Powers now heads up the Affinity Group, a financial services consulting firm. Gordon was a personal finance columnist for the Globe & Mail for many years, has taught retirement planning...

Jason BucklandJason Buckland

The modern-day MC Hammer of money, Jason can often be seen spending cash that isn’t his with the efficiency of a Wilt Chamberlain first date. After cutting his teeth as a reporter for the Toronto Sun, he joined the MSN Money team with...