2gifts:

As I have always believed and told my children, an inheritance is not a right, and I do not want them to live their lives thinking that it is, and wasting any opportunities that come their way to live full and happy lives. I've seen too many families broken apart by money and inheritances, and I would prefer not to do that to my own family.

Here, here, 2gifts.

I used to work with a guy who said he believed that it was every generation's responsibility to add to the family wealth and leave a bigger and bigger pot to the next generation until at some point there would come a time that one would not need to work. He and his wife lived very frugally so he could sock away as much $$ as possible, but not with the intent that this was for them or their retirement.

I questioned him about this and pointed out that it was very possible that a future generational member would simply squaunder the money and wouldn't it be a good idea if he and his wife used a little of the money for themselves to make their lives "happier" and "more fulfilling"?

He said, he intended to "educate" his children about the "plan" and fully believed that they would do the same with their offspring. In a worsecase scenario as I outlined above, that would be sad, but didn't change the fact that the plan should be.

I asked if his parents left him a large inheritance and he said they had not. But, their irresponsibility would not deter him.

Frankly, I was amazed.

3MM