The Wealthy Have a Plan for Their Kids - Do You?
Ever wonder why families with generational wealth keep getting richer while so many families struggle to get ahead? It’s not just about having more money—it’s about how they manage it. Wealthy families use a secret weapon: estate planning. This powerful tool ensures their children use their inheritance to build wealth, not squander it.
How the Wealthy Stay Wealthy
Wealthy families know the value of estate planning. They work with lawyers to set up trusts that ensure their children have a financial head start. These trusts:
Protect the money from being lost to lawsuits, divorce, or poor financial decisions.
Provide guidance on how the money can be used—like education, starting a business, or buying a home.
Help the inheritance grow instead of being drained.
Installing Guardrails
Take William and Wendy, for example. They are leaving their children, Wally and Winnie, $100,000 in cash, and want them to use it wisely. With the help of a lawyer, they set up a trust, naming a family friend as the trustee. Winnie uses her share to start a thriving business, while Wally invests his and lives comfortably off the interest. The trust acts like guardrails, ensuring the inheritance doesn’t just last—it grows.
The trustee - often with the now adult child acting as co-trustee - assists the kids in making prudent decisions about how to use the money, while ensuring they have the funds for their needs.
The Cost of Doing Nothing
Now let’s look at Mike and Michelle, who also have $100,000 to leave their children. Believing estate planning is “just for the rich,” they skip meeting with a lawyer. When they pass away, their children, Mark and Misty, each inherit $50,000 with no strings attached—and promptly spend it on vacations and takeout.
Fast Forward
Fast forward 25 years: Wally and Winnie are thriving, reaping the benefits of their parents’ careful planning. Meanwhile, Mark and Misty are struggling financially, their inheritance long gone. The difference is not that Wally and Winnie inherited more money. The difference is their parents set them up for success by putting the inheritance in a trust.
Start Today
Take the first step towards peace of mind by booking a Peace of Mind Planning Session with Attorney Candice McPhillips. This is a 1-hour Zoom meeting where we will review your questionnaire, answer your questions, discuss your options, and review my unique flat fee packages! If we decide we’re a good fit to work together, we’ll take the next steps. And if not, that’s fine too! Book your Peace of Mind Planning Session HERE. Mention this blog and I’ll waive the $450 session fee!
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This article is not intended to provide legal advice or opinion and should not be relied on as such. Legal advice can only be provided to clients of McPhillips Law in response to a specific fact situation.
