Making money will never go out of fashion, but what’s currently trending even more is High-net-worth individuals not leaving large sums of inheritance for their children. Bill and Melinda Gates did it; so did Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Even Daniel Craig’s children won’t inherit his massive $180 million fortune. Multi-millionaire Kevin O’Leary, known for his sharp mind and business acumen, has devised a plan that won’t leave an inheritance for his kids and will limit what’s available to his grandchildren. It’s funny how some people may still be pretty ordinary despite being born into a family of the wealthiest people in the world.
They may grow among billions, play in rooms stacked with assets, live-in priced real estate, have more public company stocks than toys. Still, it won’t be theirs if the parents have their way. According to a survey conducted by The Motley Fool, 2,000 high net worth individuals worth over $1 million were asked about their attitudes toward inheritances. Millionaires are increasingly worried about how much of their fortunes to give to their kids. The survey revealed that two-thirds of high-net-worth individuals are concerned about leaving a large inheritance to their heirs.
Around 68% of HNW individuals plan to access the inheritance they leave contingent on meeting specific conditions. Interestingly, 56% of HNW individuals surveyed by The Motley Fool shared Kevin O’Leary’s concern that an enormous legacy would result in lazy heirs. Many business families also harbor the notion that second-generation businesses often fail owing to entitlement, lack of passion, and so on. This belief is evident in inheritance plans as 64% of HNW individuals surveyed have considered a generation-skipping trust or an incentive trust, which passes assets to the grandchildren.
Ace investor Warren Buffet is one of the billionaires behind The Giving Pledge campaign alongside Bill Gates. It will give more than 99% of his wealth away to charity, leaving very, very little for his three children. However, each of them has a $2 bn foundation funded by their father. The CEO of Berkshire Hathaway makes a wise point, “I want to give my kids just enough so that they would feel that they could do anything, but not so much that they would feel like doing nothing.”
