What Ivy league parents can teach us about decision-making

What an interesting situation emerging in the USA where rich families are using every trick in the book to get their children into Ivy League universities. WHATIVYLEAGUEPARENTSCANTEACHUSABOUTDECISION-MAKING WhataninterestingsituationemergingintheUSAwhererichfamiliesareusingeverytrickinthebooktogettheirchildrenintoIvyLeague universities. Inordertobeaccepted intotheuniversity, ascamcostingfortuneshasallegedlybeengoingon. Ithasbeenreportedtoinvolve thefraudulentmisrepresentation oftheir academicorsportingprowess. AstheUSpopulationhasgrownthemostprestigiousuniversitieshaven’tproportionallyincreasedtheirstudentnumbersmakingacceptancethatmuchmoredifficultandrevered.Forthosewithlessabilitybutmoremoney,theoldmethodofmakinglargedonations is nolonger aguarantee. MostinterestingtomeisWHY?Whydotheseparentsandchildrenwanttobeseento begraduatesof,oratleasttohavebeenacceptedbytheseuniversities? Icompletelyunderstand theprestige associatedwiththeseinstitutions,andI’msure Itowouldhavelovedtohavegraduatedfromone. But, thatveryprestige is from thepersonalsatisfactionandachievementthatcomesfromthe grindandperseverance,notthemoney. Thereisalwaysadeeperreason. Aretheparentsdoingitforthemselvesorfortheirchildren?Howawarearetheyofthelong-termimpactontheirchildren?Theymustthinkitwillbeapositiveone–butwillitbe?Whatwillthisactiondototherelationshipsbetweenparentandchild–overthelong-term? Ashort-termdecisioncanoftenhavelong-termconsequencesnotevercontemplated but which could easilyhavebeenavoided.Attheendoftheday,it’sallaboutchoicesandit’swithinthesechoicesthattherelationshipofcauseandeffectneedstobecontemplated. Parentsandgrandparentsalmostalwaystrytodothebestfortheirchildren.Theintentionsarealwaysgood.Inmostcasesitrevolvesaroundthe desireto reduce thechild’spainormakelifemoreenjoyable.It’scompletelynatural.Moneyisalmostalwaysacomponentandoften,thecomponentcausingthecomplexity. Providingcapitalforadepositonahomepurchase,payingforacaroreducation–therearesomanywaysparentshelp.Therearenorulesandeverysituation is different but everydecisionhasconsequences. Anapparentlyminordecisionintheshort-termcanhavedireconsequencesyearslater. Inmyowntimeasaparentofyoungerchildren,ImadeiteasierformyselfwhenIrealisedthatoneday,somehowandwithsomeone,mychildrenwouldlearnthekeylessonsoflife.AndIwantedtoteachthemtheselessonsinaloving,protectedenvironmentratherthanforcethemto learn themalotlater inamuchtougherandmorepainfulway. WhatmessagesweretheseUSparentssendingtotheirchildren.“Ifyoucan’tgetwhatyouwant,breaktherulesuntilyoudo”. Eveniftheygotawaywithit,surelyitwasamatteroftimebeforethesechildrenwouldhavebeentaughtaverypainfullessonbypeoplewhodidn’tcare. Asitturnsout,thelessonsaregoingtobeverypainful. Moneyonitsownmeansnothing. It’sinert. It’semptyuntilitisfilledwithmeaning.Andit’s beingawareof thatmeaningthatissocriticalbecausemoneycreatesamultipliereffect.It’slikeoneofthosedistortionmirrors–itexaggerateswhoyouare. Formany,themeaningofmoneyissomethingtodowithpowerorpleasure.InthecaseoftheUSparents,it seemstohavebeen power. Iftheyhadmore self-awareness andwereabletocontemplatewhattheywere actuallydoing,theymayhavemadebetterdecisionsintheshort-term.Inthesameway,whenanydecisionismadewheremoneyisinvolved,it’simportanttohavetheawarenesstounderstandthedeeper,long-termreasonforthedecisionandcheckwhetheritisaligned. It’sveryapparentwhendealingwithclientswhoareclearandsecureinwhotheyare,howlittleimpactthechangeinthevalueoftheirportfoliomakesontheiroutlook.Withself-awarenessandafocusonthebiggerissues,they areabletomakebettershort-termdecisions. SentinelWealthManagementPtyLtd ABN:69112087475 AFSLNo.336426 Phone:0289085300 Fax:0292850547 Email:[email protected] Address: Level24,56PittStreet, Sydney,NSW2000 PostalAddress: POBoxR683,RoyalExchange, NSW1225 BoredomisnotagoodreasontomakeachangeAvoidregrettoavoidloss Scrolltotop