Less May Be More - Inheritance to Children

Saturday, May 2, 2015

Less May Be More

By Gerry W. Beyer

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A new report from Merrill Lynch Wealth Management shows that about half of wealthy families feel that giving their children too large of an inheritance could prove injurious.

Advisors have the opportunity to lead discussions with wealthy families regarding how to divide the estate and working to educate the younger generation on creating a forward looking plan.  The most common approach to discussing wealth is the “balance sheet approach,” with families sitting down during the estate planning process and revealing to children their net worth.  Families should then have ongoing conversations about what constitutes good financial decision-making in their family and parents must model that behavior.  “When you have money like that, it’s really important to get really clear on your values and form a framework for your financial estate lifestyle decision making.”

See Megan Leonhardt, How Much Is Too Much to Give the Kids? Wealth Management, May 1, 2015.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse for bringing this article to my attention.

Taken from Planned Giving Design Center Weekly E-newsletter - Click Here

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With the proper contact and marketing, this provides the opportunity for charity to communicate its values and how they aline with their planned giving prospects values and life-time giving. Bequest giving is a way for donors to fulfill their goals.