Affluenza; does your 30-something kid have it?

“My patient, Shane, picks up his latte by 6 a.m. to help guzzle down his vitamins and anti-depressants. He works out with his personal trainer and steps onto his first treadmill of the day. This self-made 53-year-old entrepreneur works at least 60 hours a week putting out fires and has grown somewhat estranged,” Stephanie Bot wrote in an Advisor.ca article last week.

The article continued, “But, he tells me, his greatest concern is his bored, demanding and unmotivated 17-year-old daughter, Marny. These days, his relationship with his “little girl” is mainly comprised of the exchange of funds, goods and services. Affluenza is a social virus — the term was popularized in a late 1990s book by John de Graaf, David Wann and Thomas Naylor. Prevalent among baby boomers and about a decade of post boomers, it manifests as excessive overwork and a driven desire to achieve a certain lifestyle. A new mutation of Affluenze is rampant in the under-30 crowd for whom the symptom of excessive overwork transformed into a sense of entitlement and the notion that the lavish life should be delivered free.” Read the full article here. | Raymond Matt, CFP, CLU, TEP, CHS

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