While at the Mission India conference a couple of weeks ago, a smaller group of about 30 men met to discuss legacy planning. At one point, one of the participants asked, “How many of you received a substantial inheritance?”

Out of 30 people, one man raised his hand. One.

“Shouldn’t that tell us something?” asked the man who had raised the first question.

I should note that the man who raised his hand may have been the youngest member of the group. I would guess he was in his mid-30s to, at most, low 40s. Everyone else was easily 50 years old or more, all were successful business people, and all had made their fortunes on their own. The significance: these guys weren’t wealthy through inheritance; they were wealthy as the result of hard work and discipline.

“God made us to do work,” the man who had asked the questions continued. “But, so often, it seems many of us who are wealthy want to give our children such large inheritances that they will be wealthy apart from work. And I don’t think that’s healthy.

“I expect most of us here would say one of the places from which we have gained the greatest satisfaction in life has to do with the work we do. And would we deny our children the same pleasure by making them wealthy without work?

“If we all made our fortunes by the work of our hands, why would we want to deny our children the same sense of satisfaction and achievement we enjoy as from the fruit of our labors? Why would we want to give our children such large inheritances that they can be wealthy without work?”

In sum, aren’t there better ways for us to deploy the wealth God has given us than to pass it all on to our children?

Something to think about.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008 at 10:27 am and is filed under estate planning, family relationships, inheritance, kids, legacy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.