Why financial investments, and not your cherished antique collection, will make for the best inheritance gift
antiques, paintings, chinaware and jewellery. Why was he unhappy?
Inheritance is money one has not earned. Not everyone is pleased with the windfall. There was a time when the outlook for the future seemed bleak in the minds of the younger generation. Widespread unemployment, poverty and scarcity made many believe that becoming rich was tough, if not impossible. We now live in times when the younger generation is more confident, positive and capable of earning and living well. So, don’t they need their parents’ wealth?
Wealth is welcome, but not as unconditionally as before. The younger generation is not desperate, eager to grab what has been left behind, and devise quick ways to use it. If feeling guilty about the largesse seems surprising, being confused, exhausted and isolated is real. Imagine inheriting a bungalow full of stuff that one has to spend days sifting through. One does not even know if something is valuable, and whether there is a market for a seemingly exotic painting.
Can we mentally make a list of what the children might or might not want? We want inheritance to be a happy event for them, providing the ability to dip into wealth that has been left behind as needed, and as graciously and easily as possible. Let’s make a list of what to leave behind and what not to.
First on the list is real estate, including property and land. Do not leave a scattered set of properties, diversified in your view, but operationally cumbersome for children. Unless the house is good enough for them to live in,