This Couple Won't Leave $4 Billion Fortune for Their Children

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Why One Young Houston Couple Won’t Leave $4 Billion Fortune for Their Three Children

“We don’t want them to feel entitled. We don’t want them to feel life has been solved for them. We always talk amongst ourselves that wealth should allow the kids to be able to do anything they want but not to do nothing and it was very hard as a parent to figure out how to do this,” she highlighted.

"I’ve never seen evidence that giving your kids a lot of money either makes them happier or makes them more productive members of society. In fact we’ve seen a lot of anecdotal evidence to the contrary.

Read more at christianpost.com/news/why-one-young-houston-couple-wont-leave-4-billion-fortune-for-their-three-children-96468/#XLfjOudw1icS7Ztt.99
 
Wow! I understand what they are trying to say, but that’s harsh.
 
Well, I can understand them not wanting to flaunt their wealth when their kids are growing up, letting them know that if they want something, they have to work for it. But I don’t see where it would be a problem for the kids to get at least some of the money when the parents die, or whatever. Keep the knowledge of the money to yourself, live on a much smaller budget, and see if the kids grow up to feeling entitled. Stuff like no private school, unless the public schools in your area are bad. Anything to give the kids a “normal” upbringing. Then, when they all are out of college, tell them about the money and what the plans are for it. At this point, I see the kids getting told that they will only get a portion of it, while the rest goes to charity or whatever. I wish I had that kind of money to work with.
 
That seems very odd, since most of us work to make life better for our children. I would never want to send kids to public school just on principle; “ambition” is not a virtue but one can learn about virtues in parochial or home school!

My in-laws are very generous with their children because that is why they amassed savings. My parents don’t have much, but when we went through hard times, they would buy us grocery staples. Your legacy is your children!

Being poor is romantic. Unless you’ve been poor! 🙂

When I think of the young people struggling because they have a religious vocation and college debt, I never picture parents intentionally withholding money.
 
I agree with the parents.

Pay for their education to be whatever they want to be and then let them stand on their own two feet.
 
I think it is a great and loving idea. Warren Buffett did the same thing, though made a contribution to each of his children’s foundations so they could live but not spend wildly.

We just need to look at the tabloids to see how great wealth passed down can devastate lives. They also state in the article giving the children a chance to earn their own. “We want to give our children the opportunity and the ambition to create wealth themselves,” she said
If the children are wise, the lessons they learn from successful parents will be far more valuable than money they inherit. The whole “teach to fish” concept.

Thanks for posting this article.
 
ringil said:
I agree with the parents.

Pay for their education to be whatever they want to be and then let them stand on their own two feet.
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I second this! What more should parents be expected to do besides pay for their children’s education? Some of us aren’t even able to do that much. Once they have the foundation of good education, they have the ability to do anything they want.
 
My sister married into money, and I did not.

For her, having a home paid for, never having to stress about bills, and being able to send their kids to private school has been such a blessing. I can’t even imagine what it’s like to not worry about money, but it must be nice!

If we ever have any wealth, I will be HAPPY to set each of my adult children up with the means to buy a home in this area, drive safe cars, not take out student loans, send their kids to Catholic school and go on great family vacations with their kids.
 
Four billion is an enormous amount of money.

Even if they just give a million dollars to each child the children would still be quite wealthy.

For some reason I’m remembering the scene in the film “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” where Paul Newman and Burl Ives are in the basement. Paul Newman’s character did not want any of his father’s wealth, and Burl Ives could not understand why.
 
Andrew Carniege used to say that it’s a sin to die wealthy.
With money like that the parents can easily set the kids up with a nice life and still practice philanthropy.
I’d love to be that rich, just so I could give it away. I’d start with paying off my families mortgages and then go to the streets…can you imagine how much fun it would be to pay off the mortgages of strangers on the street? Or pay for college of their children? People who thought they hadnt a chance in the world, boom! Suddenly they have a major expense paid and they could get ahead. That mortage payment now goes into the college fund, or the college fund now goes into a decent house and the credit cards are paid off. They can SLEEP at night. It would make such a difference in the life’s of those people and would reverberate down to the life chances of their children. Most of the time, it wouldn’t take that much money, and there are a lot of mortgages in 4 billion…

And there would be plenty left to give to charities that work for children and, my favourite, animals and the enviroment.

Man! That sounds like the fun- est and best way to finish up a lifetime of hard work and good fortune…
 
Very difficult issue. I side more with the parents, would not want to create “trust fund brats” by leaving my kids a ton of money (not that we can!). There’s an old maxim, “From shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in 3 generations.” It means the first generation starts out working for their money (shirtsleeves); the second gets left the money and spends it, leaving nothing to their own children, and the third generation is again in shirtsleeves. That 2nd generation can be a very bad place to be.

One thing that wealthy people can consider is making any inheritance contingent upon working. So however much the children make, match it 1 for 1. But to just gift them with millions? Nope.

:nope:
 
TheRealJuliane said:
Very difficult issue. I side more with the parents, would not want to create “trust fund brats” by leaving my kids a ton of money (not that we can!). There’s an old maxim, “From shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in 3 generations.” It means the first generation starts out working for their money (shirtsleeves); the second gets left the money and spends it, leaving nothing to their own children, and the third generation is again in shirtsleeves. That 2nd generation can be a very bad place to be.

One thing that wealthy people can consider is making any inheritance contingent upon working. So however much the children make, match it 1 for 1. But to just gift them with millions? Nope.

:nope:
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I disagree. I don’t see point of working like a dog and not making sure my kids will start off at a huge advantage over other kids.
 
Fairwinds said:
I disagree. I don’t see point of working like a dog and not making sure my kids will start off at a huge advantage over other kids.
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I’m not talking about supporting them while they are young. I’m talking about a windfall of millions of dollars when they haven’t worked for themselves yet. There are 2 ways to look at it - and everyone is going to feel differently. Either people who have worked for their money feel that it’s necessary for everyone to learn to work for what they earn; or, people who have worked for their money see nothing wrong in giving their children an advantage. I can see it from both points of view. I think it’s awfully easy to spoil children with too much - of anything, including money.

And like everything else, a lot of it depends upon the children - some can handle that kind of inheritance; some cannot. I think I would err on the side of caution and not overdo the inheritance.

Spend it while you have it, that’s my philosophy! Let the next generation earn their own!

😉
 
TheRealJuliane said:
…

Spend it while you have it, that’s my philosophy! Let the next generation earn their own!

😉
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that I agree with.

let me add something else. that sense of entitlement that people are worried about? by the time those kids graduate high school, its already there.
 
TheRealJuliane said:
I’m not talking about supporting them while they are young. I’m talking about a windfall of millions of dollars when they haven’t worked for themselves yet. There are 2 ways to look at it - and everyone is going to feel differently. Either people who have worked for their money feel that it’s necessary for everyone to learn to work for what they earn; or, people who have worked for their money see nothing wrong in giving their children an advantage. I can see it from both points of view. I think it’s awfully easy to spoil children with too much - of anything, including money.

And like everything else, a lot of it depends upon the children - some can handle that kind of inheritance; some cannot. I think I would err on the side of caution and not overdo the inheritance.

Spend it while you have it, that’s my philosophy! Let the next generation earn their own!

😉
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I don’t know for billion is a lot to give away…without sharing something with the children.
 
Money does not make you happy. It might make life easier, but on the same hand it is the tough times that make you who you are. If you fork over money to these kids early on in life, what will they do for the rest of their lives.

I know people who have money and think they are happy, but at the end of the day when they are home alone with their things, they are less happy then another couple who is home with the one who has been through their side during tough times and who love and appreciates them. I would rather have a happy life with no money, then lots of money with a pretend life. Count your riches by family and friends who are there for you no matter what.
 
HopenHappiness said:
Money does not make you happy. It might make life easier, but on the same hand it is the tough times that make you who you are. If you fork over money to these kids early on in life, what will they do for the rest of their lives.

I know people who have money and think they are happy, but at the end of the day when they are home alone with their things, they are less happy then another couple who is home with the one who has been through their side during tough times and who love and appreciates them. I would rather have a happy life with no money, then lots of money with a pretend life. Count your riches by family and friends who are there for you no matter what.
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money makes me very, very happy. its paying the medical insurance and the hospice care and lets me take this soon-to-be-over sabbatical without having to worry about my other financial responsibilities. I’ve had tough (financial) times, and believe me, there’s **nothing **good about them.
 
Well, it’s their money, they can do whatever they want with it. Not my position to judge them one way or the other.

My Dad saw several awful fights over wills and bequests, things that tore families apart feuding over inheritances. He always told us, “I plan on spending my last dollar on my last day. You plan on getting along with your siblings after I’m gone.”
 
styrgwillidar said:
Well, it’s their money, they can do whatever they want with it. Not my position to judge them one way or the other.

My Dad saw several awful fights over wills and bequests, things that tore families apart feuding over inheritances. He always told us, “I plan on spending my last dollar on my last day. You plan on getting along with your siblings after I’m gone.”
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Sounds like a brilliant man to me! My parents have nothing, and still there is arguing over the tiny amount there is. Ironically, the oldest and only one to marry into money is the greediest of the bunch. Her family has more than any of the rest if us could even dream of, and she is by far the most depressed person I know. Money is not worth the problems it causes. As long as my bills are paid that’s all I care about.
 
My husband and I won’t leave $4 Billion to our children either. I wish we could. 😃
 
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