Do your children lack the skills to manage an inheritance?

Greater skill is needed to manage property, inherited or otherwise, in times of economic turmoil.  It appears that parents are becoming increasingly concerned that their children lack the necessary skills.

The following excerpts are from Mike Spector, Are Your Kids Ready to Manage Their Money — Or Yours?, Wall St. J., Feb. 10, 2009:

The escalating global financial crisis has underscored the importance of knowing how to manage finances — especially for the wealthy, who deal in complex trusts and other investments.

* * * [W]ealthy investors are increasingly anxious that their children are ill-prepared to handle money, much less inherit their parents’ wealth, a new survey shows.

Only 20% of parents believe their children “will keep our family’s wealth secure for future generations,” according to just-released data from the annual Bank of America U.S. Trust survey of wealthy Americans. What’s more, only 32% of survey respondents say their kids are “willing to make financial sacrifices.” The survey was conducted among Americans with at least $1 million in liquid assets.

The survey, which also showed parents have less confidence in wealth-management skills among kids under age 30, suggests today’s teens and 20-somethings lack financial literacy, says Gillian Howell, U.S. Trust’s top philanthropic adviser. * * *

Howell blames rampant materialism for kids’ unwillingness to make financial sacrifices.

Special thanks to Joel Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.