Raising kids to have respect for money and the desire to earn their own is always difficult. Figuring out an allowance, or chore money, or when they should get their first part-time job — it's tricky to do it right!
When you're a celebrity with a ton of money, it probably gets even harder to figure out how to handle the topic of money with your kids.
The idea that any famous person's kid is going to grow up with almost unlimited access to money making them spoiled and unaware about the true value of money is pretty prevalent — but it's not always the case.
Like Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis, who have gone on record as saying that they're not planning on leaving their two kids any money when they pass away, saying, "When the time is right, we will donate everything we have to charity."
"It's terrible to give kids a silver spoon," Elton said. "The boys live the most incredible lives, they're not normal kids, and I'm not pretending they are. But you have to have some semblance of normality, some respect for money, some respect for work."
The Knives Out star shares daughter Dakota Johnson, 31, with Melanie Griffith, and has four other kids of various ages — Jesse, 38, Grace, 21, Jasper, 18, and Deacon, 14.
What's his solution to teaching them they will need to earn their own money?
"We have a rule in the family that, you know, if you stay in school, you get to stay on the payroll. So, you go to college, you get to stay on the payroll," Don explained to Seth Meyers in a recent interview.
"Toward the end of high school, I went to [Dakota] and I said, 'So, do you want to go visit some colleges?' Or something like that. And she was like, 'Oh, no. I'm not going to college,'" he revealed.
Don said that her response was "Don't you worry about it," and that three weeks later Dakota was cast in the Oscar Award-winning film The Social Network.
I can't say that my high school graduation was anywhere near that cool!
It's really no wonder that Dakota turned out so warm, funny, and sensible with a dad like Don raising her — and everything seemed to work out just fine for her money-wise too!
"I loved how Seth said "your daughter, Dakota" and Don was like "Who's that? Oh! You mean The Movie Star, Dakota." Yeap, not anyone's daughter, granddaughter, stepdaughter or girlfriend. SHE IS DAKOTA JOHNSON. PERIOD," one fan tweeted.
Do you agree with Don's version of parenting and keeping children "on the payroll" if they're in school? Or do you think support should be unconditional? Let us know in the comments!
