by Hans Eisenbeis
WHAT’S HAPPENING
- The super affluent aren’t just worried about the economy; they’re worried about their kids’ incompetence with cash. In a survey of Americans with at least $1 million in liquid assets, just 20% said they believed their children would “keep their family’s wealth secure for future generations” (WSJ.com 2.10.09). Only a third thought their kids would ever “make financial sacrifices.”
- Analysts at U.S. Trust blame materialism. Over the past decade and a half, the affluent have taken conspicuous consumption to new heights, and their kids identify primarily through fancy clothes and exotic automobiles.
- The extreme wealth generated during boom times means that about $50 trillion will be passed to the next generation in the next 50 years — probably the greatest transfer of wealth in history.
WHAT THIS MEANS TO BUSINESS
- Financial literacy isn’t just for the middle class. In fact, the children of wealth may be even more at risk for financial mismanagement, since life has been pretty easy for them so far.
- Savings, entrepreneurship, philanthropy, and investing: these are the areas rich kids need to focus on, according to the authors of the study.
RESOURCES
