Baby Boomers May Not Give Children Everything They Expect

According to a study by London-based Heartwood Wealth Management, most wealthy parents see no reason to sacrifice their own lifestyles for the sake of a child’s inheritance. Two-thirds of these parents said that while they would like to give their children something to help out, they won’t give them so much that they don’t have to work.

Once children finish college, the greatest gift a parent can give them is a lesson in self-reliance. But many of these Generation Y inheritors may not agree. If wealthy parents need assistance with these children, some banks, such as Coutts and Citi Private Bank, run courses for the children of top clients to teach them about assets and responsibility. Another option is to encourage children to pay their own way through graduate school in the U.S.

See Matthew Vincent, Inheritance: Don’t Count On It, Financial Times, Mar. 24, 2011.

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