KISS co-founder Gene Simmons has offered a detailed and characteristically blunt look into his personal philosophy on wealth, work, and parenting, revealing that his finances are in order to the point that “the next two to three generations are taken care of.” Speaking on The HoneyDew podcast, the rock icon and entrepreneur explained that this security is built on a lifetime of hard work and a tough-love parenting style designed to combat what he calls the “entitled generation.”
In the candid interview, Simmons, whose KISS brand was recently sold for a reported sum of over $300 million, made it clear that his financial success was no accident. It was the result of a forward-thinking, work-harder-than-everyone-else mentality. “Living well is the best revenge,” he declared, adding that he embraces being called “cheap.” “When somebody says I’m cheap, I say, ‘Thank you. I’m smart, bi**h. I’ll see you at the end.'”
The core of his philosophy, however, is a fierce opposition to the idea of entitlement, which he has made sure not to pass on to his own children, Nick and Sophie.
“Neither Nick nor Sophie ever got — what is it called? — allowances, where you give your kids money for nothing,” he stated. “No. You want money? You’ve gotta do something. Do this. I don’t know — mow the lawn, clean this, do that. Then you understand the value of it.”
He contrasted this with his view of modern youth, which he dubbed “Generation f***ed up” and the “entitled generation,” who he feels wrongly believe they “deserve healthcare” and “deserve free living.”
To illustrate his point, Simmons shared a graphic and personal anecdote from his own infancy in Israel. “When I was born, my mother used to chew my food for me,” he said, explaining that there was no baby food available. He compared this to how a baby is cared for in every way, from being fed to having its diapers changed.
“And then one day it’s stopped,” he continued, explaining the moral of the story. “‘Hey! So who’s gonna wipe my s**t? Who’s gonna chew my food?’ And then you have to do it. And the sooner your kids — or any anybody’s kids that you care about — the sooner they learn to be self-sufficient, the more good citizens they’ll be.”
