4 ms·

There's inheritance and there's inheritance. I suspect most rich people don't actually inherit money/wealth (in the legal sense). Instead, they set up trust fu

by tomp 11y ago

There's inheritance and there's inheritance. I suspect most rich people don't actually inherit money/wealth (in the legal sense). Instead, they set up trust funds for the benefit of their families/children, and so protect the assets and avoid taxes at the same time. Also, with the sheer number of tax havens and offshore secret bank accounts available nowadays, I'm very sceptical that the official statistics are able to reflect the true concentration of wealth. Which is exactly the problem - there are so many loopholes and workarounds that we can't even imagine the true extent of wealth concentration!

bko 11y ago
Perhaps there are wealthy people that, through hidden inheritance, should be on the list. But what this article looks at is the Forbes 400 richest. Unless there are some Vanderbilts hiding somewhere with billions in offshore accounts, then I would say that inheritance is not driving inequality as much as you think. Also, you have to consider that inheritance is often passed on is often wasted in a few generations. > Indeed, research shows that family money rarely survives the transfer for long, with 70 percent evaporated by the end of the second generation. By the end of the third? Ninety percent [0] http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324662404578334663271139552 http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB100014241278873246624045783346...
- nitrogen 11y ago
  The most valuable forms of inheritance are the attitudes and connections of one's friends and family. The only way to stop that would be forced isolation/extreme desegregation. That almost sounds like a plot for a Hollywood reboot of Ayn Rand -- "In a world where rich kids are forcibly distributed and forbidden from having rich friends, three teenagers find each other and, surviving their bizarre love triangle, start a mountain colony where rich kids can get together and par-tay."

by tomp 11y ago

bko 11y ago

Perhaps there are wealthy people that, through hidden inheritance, should be on the list. But what this article looks at is the Forbes 400 richest. Unless there are some Vanderbilts hiding somewhere with billions in offshore accounts, then I would say that inheritance is not driving inequality as much as you think. Also, you have to consider that inheritance is often passed on is often wasted in a few generations. > Indeed, research shows that family money rarely survives the transfer for long, with 70 percent evaporated by the end of the second generation. By the end of the third? Ninety percent [0] http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324662404578334663271139552 http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB100014241278873246624045783346...

nitrogen 11y ago
The most valuable forms of inheritance are the attitudes and connections of one's friends and family. The only way to stop that would be forced isolation/extreme desegregation. That almost sounds like a plot for a Hollywood reboot of Ayn Rand -- "In a world where rich kids are forcibly distributed and forbidden from having rich friends, three teenagers find each other and, surviving their bizarre love triangle, start a mountain colony where rich kids can get together and par-tay."