yes, yes, and yes — but most people actually quit school and created their own paths — like making a multimillionaire shopping service or a smart car brand. grades can be tied to paycheck in some scenarios, but the most successful are the ones who made their own options and chose to make their own career path. most of the rich people today didn’t inherit anything from their parents — there must be rich people first before people can inherit anything.
pretty sure most billionaires inherited a ton of money from their multimillionaire parents to get them started
and your parents are somewhat right. higher grades can get you higher pay, but grades are not the determining factor. colleges like to see other things than high GPA like involvement in community or something.
maybe your parents are from a different country. in china, the 高考 (gāokǎo) will literally determine whether you go to college or not. its like the SAT but 10x harder. so in that case yes your grade would make or break you
isn’t it funny how grandparents and some modern parents think higher grades equal higher income when you’re older but the most successful people quit school and taught themselves and set bigger goals than “being a doctor”?