I happen to be in a position to answer this. I have also stated that much before in another thread. My kids are getting nothing, as I believe in a fair playing field for all the reasons mentioned by @Sig (in fact, the field isn’t particularly fair even then, as wealthy people can afford a better educational and professional outcomes for their children, all else being equal). Fundamentally, for me, it’s reasonably simple. Would it be fair for a kid to inherit their parent’s debt? I am reasonably sure that most people in this day and age would consider such a practice barbaric and outdated. Why then should it be any different with respect to assets?
You and Sig are completely off your rockers on this issue. Furthermore, with this mentality of “giving your money away” neither of you have any business in the cut-throat game of speculation. People who donate in this business do it on a voluntary basis. It’s my opinion, but I respect your views as well. I’ll end it there.
I see my views on this as simple common sense. I have thought long and hard about the various angles. I just cannot see any good reason to leave my kids a bunch of money, especially given it’s reasonably clear that it can cause various unpleasant effects.
Those feelings make me feel nothing but sadness for you. You may find the thread "Millions made, much of the world seen, what now?" to be illuminating. https://www.elitetrader.com/et/thre...orld-seen-what-now.319486/page-8#post-4629839 As it turns out, there is far far more to life than earning and holding on to as much money as you possibly can. In fact money generally only gets you to the second step on Maslow's Hierarchy, and if you're not careful you can waste a life away only to realize that the journey was the destination and be left with a profound "now what" moment. I can only hope for your sake that happens when you're still young enough to realize you were chasing an essentially meaningless goal, and even better that it happens before your kids leave home and you never end up trading off time with them for essentially meaningless wealth. Ironically, you may even find that wealth is much easier to create when you start caring less about it and put it in the right perspective, certainly the case for me.
If that’s how you feel, give me all your money and keep everything else. Then you’ll see how the worlds heart bleeds for you.
I find this anger and personal attack on those who advocate against selfishness to be fascinating. I spent 20 years in the military, started 2 successful companies, and certainly make money trading but do it mainly for the enjoyment of the challenge. All from a lower middle class background with no financial contribution from my folks, who did provide a lot of love and a great childhood. If that's some kind of "bleeding heart" type to you, then I do idley wonder how you measure up to your own criteria, for curiosity's sake alone? Because that is all entirely irrelevant. As I pointed out over and over but seem to have difficulty conveying, my personal actions have absolutely nothing to do with a logical argument about if a custom/practice/law is rational or morally defensible. Generally one only stoops to that level when they've run out of rational explanations for their point of view. And that's getting to be the really fascinating part of this discussion, observing the Confirmation Bias at work so transparently. I had honestly never thought about inheritance much until the term "earned" was thrown out in this thread and I asked myself "do children really do anything to earn an inheritance"? I'm still genuinely curious as to if that question has a valid answer. If you have one, I'm all ears. Up to now I've heard nothing defensible, but that certainly doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Come on guys, focus on the question!
Just as an addendum to this idea, if you want to stop abuse in a government disability program your first stop ought to be the military. The VA disability system is abused by almost 100% of retired military. They actually devote an entire half-day at the transition assistance (TAPS) class we all go through before we retire to how to game the VA disability system. I found myself in a room full of super conservative military folks, some of whom were friends I'd personally heard espousing views like yours, asking about if they could get a 50% disability from that shoulder injury they got 5 years ago playing basketball in the church league. I literally walked out in disgust and didn't attend the rest of the class! Sleep apnea, which could be solved by simply losing weight, is a 50% disability! Almost every retired military guy I know has at least some "disability" rating, and since you can retire after 20 years of service these are guys in their 30s and 40s working as freaking airline pilots and in one case a fire fighter, despite being supposedly 50% or in some cases up to 75% "disabled" according to the VA! What's the impact of this? Well anyone with any "disability" gets a set-aside on government contracts, VA medical benefits, and access to a host of other programs. If you're over 50%, which again constitutes a vast majority of what you and I would all call completely able bodied adults, you get part of your retirement pay tax free. That's a direct wealth transfer from people like you and me who don't abuse that system. All the more shameful with all the men and women who came back from the sandbox literally missing limbs and with lifelong disabling injuries who have to compete with nearly every other able bodied retiree for access to the VA's limited budget. I know, it's a lot easier to love the military guy who "earned it" and hate the fat redneck in WV or black woman in the inner city, but abuse is abuse and in my experience my fellow military retirees are the worst at claiming a "disability" where there is none. So if you really want to reform a disability system, start with the gross abuses in the VA system!
There is something to be said for this. It is an equation with no emotional parameter. I can't say it is wrong. It may not be defective, but then again it may be in defiance of our humanity. I can not in good conscious be judgemental in this regard. It is either a strength or a weakness. I can not say which. I can not know.
Thank you so much for this opinion. I wasn't in the military. For that reason I appreciate these frank expressions of opinion all the more.
You guys are starting to scare me. Do you seriously believe that honest hard working parents shouldn’t have a right to leave their assets to their spoiled lazy kids? Because it appears to be the implication here. Anyone who answers yes to that question should be executed at the lowest cost (of time and money) possible.