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How about if the children are competent AND they receive the money? At the risk of having spoiled kids, might this potent combination bring us another Warren B

by leelin 16y ago

How about if the children are competent AND they receive the money? At the risk of having spoiled kids, might this potent combination bring us another Warren Buffet or Bill Gates? Sure it might not be fair, but children who inherit get a nice safety net which allows them to take greater risks to pursue their dreams. Edit: I didn't realize the extent that Buffet bootstrapped his wealth. Still, there are plenty of good inheritance examples... the Trumps and Kushners?

philk 16y ago
Warren Buffett made almost all of his money himself. The problem is that when people get unearned money they usually become wasteful and lose their drive. It's also really hard to keep working on something financial when you've got a large external income; if you're making a million bucks a year in investment income then spending all your waking hours on a business that's making fifty grand a year doesn't seem worthwhile even if it might eventually grow much larger.
- edanm 16y ago
  True. But I'm guessing the children of successful business people also get, besides the money, a great education on business. More importantly, they probably inherit a great worldview of money/business, which drives them to also try and do great things. This isn't true in every case, but it's probably true in some cases. I'm guessing any child of a person like Bill Gates might be given the kind of education which pushes him/her to great heights. Should probably check some statistics on this issue.
  - bjoernw 16y ago
    The problem is that success and money are not the same. There might be a parent that made a lot of money taking stupid risk. The education that the child gets from the parent isn't worth anything and he will have to burn through a lot of money to unlearn the things his parent taught him. Therefore he could use the large inheritance. Even though people are rich doesn't mean they are smart. Survivorship bias
- acgourley 16y ago
  Could a will have a matching clause? Every dollar you earn gives you another dollar 5 years down the line. You get 200k seed.
- slantyyz 16y ago
  I thought I heard that Buffett wasn't going to leave much to his heirs, and the bulk of his fortune will end up going to the Gates foundation?
  - _delirium 16y ago
    Depends on what you mean by "much". In percentage terms, he's promised to give away 99% of his fortune, leaving only 1% to his heirs. But in absolute terms, his fortune is around $50 billion, so the 1% he's leaving is still around $500 million--- so his heirs will still be among the richest people in the U.S.
gcheong 16y ago
An interesting documentary around this question was made by an heir to the Johnson and Johnson fortune called "Born Rich" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKKb7_7qBrk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKKb7_7qBrk

by leelin 16y ago

philk 16y ago

Warren Buffett made almost all of his money himself. The problem is that when people get unearned money they usually become wasteful and lose their drive. It's also really hard to keep working on something financial when you've got a large external income; if you're making a million bucks a year in investment income then spending all your waking hours on a business that's making fifty grand a year doesn't seem worthwhile even if it might eventually grow much larger.

edanm 16y ago
True. But I'm guessing the children of successful business people also get, besides the money, a great education on business. More importantly, they probably inherit a great worldview of money/business, which drives them to also try and do great things. This isn't true in every case, but it's probably true in some cases. I'm guessing any child of a person like Bill Gates might be given the kind of education which pushes him/her to great heights. Should probably check some statistics on this issue.
- bjoernw 16y ago
  The problem is that success and money are not the same. There might be a parent that made a lot of money taking stupid risk. The education that the child gets from the parent isn't worth anything and he will have to burn through a lot of money to unlearn the things his parent taught him. Therefore he could use the large inheritance. Even though people are rich doesn't mean they are smart. Survivorship bias
acgourley 16y ago
Could a will have a matching clause? Every dollar you earn gives you another dollar 5 years down the line. You get 200k seed.
slantyyz 16y ago
I thought I heard that Buffett wasn't going to leave much to his heirs, and the bulk of his fortune will end up going to the Gates foundation?
- _delirium 16y ago
  Depends on what you mean by "much". In percentage terms, he's promised to give away 99% of his fortune, leaving only 1% to his heirs. But in absolute terms, his fortune is around $50 billion, so the 1% he's leaving is still around $500 million--- so his heirs will still be among the richest people in the U.S.

gcheong 16y ago

An interesting documentary around this question was made by an heir to the Johnson and Johnson fortune called "Born Rich" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKKb7_7qBrk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKKb7_7qBrk