I was born into a life where tests and difficulties were the norm. My family was Baha'i, a religious minority in Iran. During the Iranian revolution, we lost many rights, including the right to education. When I was 16, my parents decided I was safer being smuggled out of the country than remaining in Iran.
My older brother had crossed into Pakistan ahead of me, and together, we came to the US as refugees. We landed in San Francisco in 1988 with $75 between us. The next week, we started working in a screen printing shop. My brother was 23 and I was 17.
My brother and I were entrepreneurs at heart and hungry for financial security. While attending college, I worked for a student painting company, which taught me how to run a business. Then, in 1994, my brother and I founded Autoweb, the first online car-buying platform.
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It wasn't until 1997 that I felt financially stable. Over the years, I have founded multiple companies, and today, I own and operate One Planet Group. I'm not sure exactly how much OPG is worth, but it's probably somewhere over $100 million. I do not believe that financial success should be viewed as the primary reflection of one's net worth.
I want my daughters to experience financial discomfort
About 20 years ago, I met my wife, another Baha'i from Iran. We have two daughters, who are now 18 and 19. They were born in the San Francisco Bay Area.
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I can't understate how important living in America has been for me. I still believe that no matter where you are in the world, it's a place that can offer you hope.
To teach my girls that, my wife and I took them abroad. In 2019, we moved to the Czech Republic. They attended an international Baha'i school in a small town about 90 minutes outside Prague. They went to school with kids from 30 different countries and got a more worldly perspective than they would have if we'd stayed in California.
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When the pandemic struck, we had to return to the US. We chose to settle in New York City so the girls could experience cultural, socio-economic, and racial diversity that simply isn't present in the Bay Area.
I gave my girls a reasonable allowance
I believe that humans become their best selves through trials and difficulty. Like gold, we're purified by the fire. But growing up white-presenting in America with immense wealth, my daughters had little trial by fire. I worried about that — in fact, we still do.
We've always given the girls a reasonable allowance. It's not about what we can afford but what we think is good for them. We want their allowance to cover their essential life expenses like housing, books for college, and groceries. We don't want to pay for fast fashion or expensive dinners out with friends. My wife and I try to ensure that money does not come to our girls freely. We want them to run out of money and be conscious about spending. We hope these small acts prepare them for the bigger challenges they'll inevitably face.
Rather than teaching our daughters specific budgeting approaches, we've let them learn through experience what works for them. We've always believed that the best way for children to learn money management is by letting them actually manage their own finances. This approach is practical, not theoretical.
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They can take responsibility for their money, decide how much to save and give to charity, and understand the importance of living within their means to avoid credit card debt. This hands-on experience, rather than another lecture from Dad or Mom, is invaluable in teaching financial prudence and responsibility.
We believe wealth is only commendable if earned
Most importantly, we want our daughters to work. The Baha'i Faith teaches that working in service of others is equal to worship. We don't want to deprive our children of that.
While we plan to leave our daughters a small inheritance to ensure their financial security, we won't leave them so much that they won't need to work. We want our children to have enough money to house themselves, get an education, and meet their basic needs. Beyond that, we believe money can corrupt if it's given rather than earned.
We also think that wealth is only commendable if you earn it and then spend it on the betterment of the world. We use most of our wealth to try to do just that (both during our lifetime and when we leave this world through our will) by donating to causes and those that we believe can positively impact the world. Two of those causes are the empowerment of women and girls globally, contributing to racial healing here in the United States.
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That will not only make this world better, but it will also allow our daughters to earn their own wealth and learn about themselves and the world along the way.
Correction: July 26, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misstated when the family moved to the Czech Republic. They moved in 2019, not 2018.
