Behavior: The Woes of Being Wealthy

A plague of anxieties often assails prisoners of the golden ghetto

Growing up, Tracy Gary lived in opulent homes in Manhattan, Bal Harbour, Fla., and on Lake Superior's Madeline Island, traveling among them in the family plane, helicopter and yellow Rolls-Royce. Parties and presents were plentiful, including a Ford Mustang for high school graduation. At 21, Gary received the ultimate gift: a $2 million inheritance. Most people would have been overjoyed, but the windfall only intensified her long-held feelings of guilt, isolation and impotence. "I was overwhelmed," says Gary, now 36, who lives in San Francisco. Her problem: the plague of anxieties that seems to afflict a growing number of the very...

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