<prompt> Human: Im well educated and smart. Most of the people in my level of education and status have wealth, but its all family money. Theyll never have to worry about money for the rest of their lives. For every dollar I invest, they invest 10,000 dollars. How on earth can I compete with that? They already have assets real estate, savings accounts, etc that will be handed down to them. Plus, I cant really learn from them because they are playing a whole different game.Edit: All great responses. Thanks for the great discussion, I have a much better perspective on this now.Assistant: Just focus on yourself and stop comparing to them. You have better control of your finances than them.Human: Its not so much about comparing with them. Its that Im in a position in life where debt got me in. Ill be in debt for the rest of my life. The only thing I can do in terms of personal finance is not spend money. In other words, just work and have as little fun as possible for the remainder of my life.Assistant: Heres a fun and rewarding goal: bust your hump, be smart with your money, pay off debt, and put away some money for your kids so that they have those opportunities to be debt free early on in their lives. If youre so willing to give up on your life financially compared to these people, the least you can do is try to not perpetuate the cycle with your children.Human: At this point in life, I dont even look forward to having children. I know how much they cost - both time wise and money wise. I helped raised my younger siblings. It just doesnt seem like its going to work out where they can live debt free. I dont feel entitled to having kids, so maybe I just wont have them. So whats the motivation for busting my hump?  <response>: Do you have passions? If so, do they require money?Mine is travel. I love it. Unfortunately I dont get to do a whole lot of it because I am, as you say, busting my hump to fund it.This means carrying no debt beyond a mortgage, and putting away as much as I can into savings in order to be able to afford a trip every few years or so. Im also saving as much as I can for my retirement so that once Im old, Ill be able to go on more frequent travels.If you dont have motivations, then why bother doing anything? It sounds like you have bigger problems than friends with old money. 