Whether we acknowledge it openly or not, there’s a definite line between the haves and the have-nots, especially regarding their upbringing. Not everybody is blessed with rich families growing up. Still, there are a handful of dead giveaways that someone grew up wealthy.
This list offers several ways to identify who grew up wealthy, mainly through the lens of our childhoods. How many of these giveaways can you relate to?
1. They Traveled Internationally
I grew up with many friends who had the privilege of traveling around the world at a young age. They spent semesters abroad if they weren’t exploring Europe with their parents during summers. As for me, I was left to my own devices in New Jersey, doing odd jobs and scraping by as an impressionable teenager.
I can’t imagine what it’s like to travel so much as a kid. I don’t know a better indicator of growing up rich than that.
2. They Don’t Mind Paying Full Price
I’m a penny-pincher. I scrimp, save, and hunt for coupons and promo codes. I don’t buy something if I have to pay full price. It’s that simple.
Men and women who grew up wealthy don’t understand this concept. Those who don’t mind paying full price probably grew up so affluent that any amount of money a product costs was ultimately a drop in the bucket for their income level. It must be nice.
3. They Took More Than One Family Vacation per Year
If I was lucky, my family and I trekked to the Jersey shore once a year, usually with another family accompanying us to keep costs down. Although I enjoyed our yearly family vacations in the summer, I knew many people who went on multiple trips per year with their loved ones.
Unsurprisingly, I was jealous whenever I heard of another friend enjoying more than one vacation per year with their wealthy family.
4. They Have Affluent Hobbies
According to, well, everyone I know, you can tell how wealthy a person’s family was growing up by which hobbies they partake in and what sports they play.
In most cases, participating in solo sports like tennis, golf, sailing, and similar activities is a sign of growing up wealthy. For people who didn’t grow up in a wealthy family, team-based sports like baseball, basketball, and soccer were more their speed.
5. They Received a Car for Their 16th Birthday
Anybody who grew up in a decidedly middle-class family knows the pain of not receiving a car for your 16th birthday, even though it is a rite of passage for your more affluent friends. A few friends received BMWs for their big day; I got a new baseball glove.
Although I grew to love my first car (a 1989 Pontiac Grand Am), I admit that on my 16th birthday, I wished my family was in a higher tax bracket.
6. They Were Private-Schooled
It’s simple, really: rich kids attend rich-kid schools and avoid public high schools at all costs. It’s a tale as old as time. My family didn’t have much money, so my two brothers and I were relegated to the good old public school system.
Truthfully, I didn’t mind it (most likely because I didn’t know what I was missing, but that’s neither here nor there).
7. They Have High Standards of Living
If you grew up wealthy, your standard of living was almost impossibly high compared to people with less affluence. Smaller televisions seemed too tiny, anything less than luxury vehicles seemed cheap, and the thought of eating meals at a fast-food restaurant was nonsense.
When you think about it, rich people grew up with a different worldview, blinded by their good fortune.
8. They Had Access to a Full Pantry of Snacks
If any of my friends had the misfortune of coming to my house after school, they were welcomed with a surprisingly barren pantry lacking kid-friendly snacks. My mom always made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for my friends and me, but our food selection paled compared to that of my wealthy friends.
I felt like a kid in a candy store whenever I visited my rich friends. They often had every snack and treat, and it was all for the taking.
9. They Had Every Video Game System
If you’re anything like me, your family was a single-console gaming family dedicated to only one brand — if you had one at all. My family was all about Nintendo, while I had other friends committed to Sega. It was all about picking sides back then.
People who grew up wealthy didn’t have to make such complicated decisions. Instead of choosing one video game system over another, they operated more simply: they owned both. They lived a dream that was only made possible by their wealth.
10. Their Idea of Necessities Is Different
Even today, as adults, it’s easy to spot someone who grew up rich. Their idea of what constitutes necessities is very different than what you think they are.
For example, I know a handful of people who will never step foot in an airport without having access to exclusive lounges, far away from the general public waiting in the main terminal. That’s the life they require at this point. Talk about a disconnect.
11. They Never Wore Hand-Me-Downs
People who always felt the pinch of a tight budget growing up and had brothers and sisters know the embarrassing concept of being forced to wear hand-me-downs. All kids envy those who don’t have to wear anything already worn a million times by someone else.
Children who grew up wealthy always had new clothes to wear. Wearing secondhand clothing is a foreign concept to them.
12. They Always Carried Cash
While carrying cash isn’t out of the ordinary in 2024 (it’s arguably the most convenient way to pay for things), having friends who carried cash growing up was always weird. I’m talking to friends at school who would randomly have $20 or $40 on them at all times. In most cases, their parents would give them this money “just to be on the safe side.”
My parents would never have given me straight cash to take to school, even if they could afford to.
13. Their House Was Gigantic
People who grew up wealthy lived in massive, sprawling houses in gigantic, upscale neighborhoods with lawns often bigger than four houses combined in my neck of the woods.
I used to enjoy visiting these friends. Their cavernous houses and oversized rooms contained almost limitless toys and games. When invited to one of these homes, you always said yes. There was no saying no to hanging out in these dream houses.
14. In-Ground Basketball Hoop in the Driveway
My family wasn’t rich. We did not own an in-ground basketball hoop. We owned a janky, cheap, portable, undersized hoop with a base we had to fill with water so it wouldn’t topple over.
On the other hand, some of my friends played basketball on their beautiful, in-ground, full-sized glass basketball hoop in their driveway, usually with a three-point line expertly spray painted on the concrete. If you know, you know.
15. They Have a Questionable Work Ethic
People who grew up without a great deal of money while living a middle-class lifestyle know the value of a hard day’s work. The more you put your head down and work, the more money you’ll ultimately put in your pocket. Unfortunately, people who grew up rich don’t always know the value of this concept.
While this certainly doesn’t apply to all people from wealthy families, for some, money has always been a part of their lives whether they work or not, leading them to have questionable work ethics at best.
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