If your family had generational wealth when did it end?

[Anonymous]

My husband’s family’s money is still going strong after three generations. His great grandfather made a killing in steel and that money is in various trusts (generation skipping and other various forms). I can only think of one family member that was previously very cavalier with the money and spent down her portion like water. The rest of the family is very committed to preserving the wealth for generations to come. Our lifestyle is helped largely by my husband’s grandparents money that was left to him and my children’s grandparents will do the same for them. The day they were born there were sizable trusts established for them and education has been funded to the fullest extent that they want it. I hope we are instilling the same mentality in them so they also take of their grandchildren someday and so on.

[Anonymous]

Only 20% of Americans actually inherit something. Most generational wealth is just a home.

Write now we are seeing the biggest generational wealth transfer in history as baby boomers start to die and the wealth transfers to gen X and older millennials.

I am seeing a lot of this in my neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

My great grandfather was a builder in DC and owned car dealerships. Other side of the family owned parking garages downtown. The wealthier side was into race horses, which turned out to be a bad idea. Grandparents didn’t want to work (alcoholism) and then when they died, my parents “didn’t need the money” so let siblings have it. My aunts and uncles didn’t work either. Their kids are now lower and lower middle class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My husband’s family’s money is still going strong after three generations. His great grandfather made a killing in steel and that money is in various trusts (generation skipping and other various forms). I can only think of one family member that was previously very cavalier with the money and spent down her portion like water. The rest of the family is very committed to preserving the wealth for generations to come. Our lifestyle is helped largely by my husband’s grandparents money that was left to him and my children’s grandparents will do the same for them. The day they were born there were sizable trusts established for them and education has been funded to the fullest extent that they want it. I hope we are instilling the same mentality in them so they also take of their grandchildren someday and so on.

Generation skipping is a key way to keep the wealth going. A lot of the ways that were most effective for doing this though have been restricted (in my mind rightly so--why should people get disproportionate tax benefits to keep multiple generations well-off, even though this was the strategy we planned too). 529 plans are still a good option to focus on ensuring grandchildren will have educational resources.

[Anonymous]

My grandparents had a 77M estate but 4 kids. The vast majority went into our family's foundation and each kid (my parents) got $4M (they/we received gifts in the past as well). Grandkids got small amounts to help with down payments/college.

While a $4M inheritance is nothing to sneeze about my grandparents did not want their kids to coast with $15M each (in addition to their savings) since they built the wealth from the ground up.

The family foundation is the most rewarding inheritance we "received.' It is so special to be able to control sizable gifts each year to organizations we love.

With that, the wealth could have been substantial to all but they chose philanthropy. Obviously we will inherit a good amount from my parents but not 15-20M. Is that still generational? TBD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Generational wealth typically lasts just 3 generations. Wondering when yours is up and if you plan to continue the wealth?

I am the great-grandchild, so 3rd generation. Great-grandfather was a pioneering doctor researcher in a mining region, studying black lung disease. His daughter and grandchildren all became highly trained (children's heart surgeon, gynecologist, chemist math whiz). Then the Soviet Union fell 4 years after my birth. All that wealth went with it. I grew up in a beautiful apartment with chandeliers, engraved silver silverware, ruby and ivory knick ornaments. But we had no money, ate oatmeal and wore I'll fitting clothes and shoes that were either too small or too flimsy. Then moved here to US and lost all the social connections. My father is still an elitist snob and judges anyone who didn't go to top university as unworthy of his attention. But he lives in poverty and centers life around grocery discounts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My great, great grandparents were significantly wealthy and had generational wealth from before them. They had several properties all over the east coast and a vacation home in Cuba. My grandmother had fancy everything (house, nanny, cars, vacations, schools, clothes, etc.) and then came the Great Depression. My great grandfather agreed not to remove his money from the banks to show support and lost all that money. His property in Cuba was seized. They still owned their US properties but their values went down. They also had 10 kids, so that wealth was divided by 10.

My grandmother inherited a few properties (country homes, a farm, etc), but had a drinking problem so she wasn't the best money manager. There wasn't much left money wise for my mother to inherit but my mother did inherit some real estate.

My mother is an even worse money manager than my grandmother, so she's actually in debt and I often have to give her money. I do not expect to inherit anything when she passes. I am not sure how far back the money generation wise went (because that side of the family has been in the US for a very long time) but it essentially took 3 generations to squander it.

I started from scratch and them the breaks.

Same girl. My great aunt never had kids so her wealth was seized by the greedy thieving nieces and nephews who surrounded her and possibly killed her in another country. We will never know. She owned a lot and my mom never got her piece because they frauded the will. So much drama with shit family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My grandparents had a 77M estate but 4 kids. The vast majority went into our family's foundation and each kid (my parents) got $4M (they/we received gifts in the past as well). Grandkids got small amounts to help with down payments/college.

While a $4M inheritance is nothing to sneeze about my grandparents did not want their kids to coast with $15M each (in addition to their savings) since they built the wealth from the ground up.

The family foundation is the most rewarding inheritance we "received.' It is so special to be able to control sizable gifts each year to organizations we love.

With that, the wealth could have been substantial to all but they chose philanthropy. Obviously we will inherit a good amount from my parents but not 15-20M. Is that still generational? TBD.

Yes, yes it is. WTF.

It's one thing for people on this board to say they "feel" middle class at $300k HHI, but gmafb with this reach that a seven figure inheritance over three generations may or may not be generational wealth because you think you should be getting 8 figures. Get bent, seriously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Generational wealth typically lasts just 3 generations. Wondering when yours is up and if you plan to continue the wealth?

I am the great-grandchild, so 3rd generation. Great-grandfather was a pioneering doctor researcher in a mining region, studying black lung disease. His daughter and grandchildren all became highly trained (children's heart surgeon, gynecologist, chemist math whiz). Then the Soviet Union fell 4 years after my birth. All that wealth went with it. I grew up in a beautiful apartment with chandeliers, engraved silver silverware, ruby and ivory knick ornaments. But we had no money, ate oatmeal and wore I'll fitting clothes and shoes that were either too small or too flimsy. Then moved here to US and lost all the social connections. My father is still an elitist snob and judges anyone who didn't go to top university as unworthy of his attention. But he lives in poverty and centers life around grocery discounts.

This is fascinating. Can you tell us more about your backstory?

[Anonymous]

What is generation skipping? How does it work?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My grandparents had a 77M estate but 4 kids. The vast majority went into our family's foundation and each kid (my parents) got $4M (they/we received gifts in the past as well). Grandkids got small amounts to help with down payments/college.

While a $4M inheritance is nothing to sneeze about my grandparents did not want their kids to coast with $15M each (in addition to their savings) since they built the wealth from the ground up.

The family foundation is the most rewarding inheritance we "received.' It is so special to be able to control sizable gifts each year to organizations we love.

With that, the wealth could have been substantial to all but they chose philanthropy. Obviously we will inherit a good amount from my parents but not 15-20M. Is that still generational? TBD.

Yes, yes it is. WTF.

It's one thing for people on this board to say they "feel" middle class at $300k HHI, but gmafb with this reach that a seven figure inheritance over three generations may or may not be generational wealth because you think you should be getting 8 figures. Get bent, seriously.

I have a different take on this case. You give the bulk of your estate to philanthropy because you don't want your kids to coast?? I wonder if the grandparents had any help in building up that sizable estate. You can set up trusts for the kids, whereby the kids have restricted access to the money, and as they age they are granted more access. You don't trust your kids with the $$$ but you trust a philanthropy? Seems off to me, family first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My great grandfather was a builder in DC and owned car dealerships. Other side of the family owned parking garages downtown. The wealthier side was into race horses, which turned out to be a bad idea. Grandparents didn’t want to work (alcoholism) and then when they died, my parents “didn’t need the money” so let siblings have it. My aunts and uncles didn’t work either. Their kids are now lower and lower middle class.

This is why (IMO) generational wealth should first and foremost be used for education (or trade school, etc whatever you need to better yourself for a career in life) and trusts should be set up to ensure people are not just using the money to live off of without any care to try and function in the world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My grandparents had a 77M estate but 4 kids. The vast majority went into our family's foundation and each kid (my parents) got $4M (they/we received gifts in the past as well). Grandkids got small amounts to help with down payments/college.

While a $4M inheritance is nothing to sneeze about my grandparents did not want their kids to coast with $15M each (in addition to their savings) since they built the wealth from the ground up.

The family foundation is the most rewarding inheritance we "received.' It is so special to be able to control sizable gifts each year to organizations we love.

With that, the wealth could have been substantial to all but they chose philanthropy. Obviously we will inherit a good amount from my parents but not 15-20M. Is that still generational? TBD.

Yes, yes it is. WTF.

It's one thing for people on this board to say they "feel" middle class at $300k HHI, but gmafb with this reach that a seven figure inheritance over three generations may or may not be generational wealth because you think you should be getting 8 figures. Get bent, seriously.

I have a different take on this case. You give the bulk of your estate to philanthropy because you don't want your kids to coast?? I wonder if the grandparents had any help in building up that sizable estate. You can set up trusts for the kids, whereby the kids have restricted access to the money, and as they age they are granted more access. You don't trust your kids with the $$$ but you trust a philanthropy? Seems off to me, family first.

PP literally says the grandparents built the wealth from the ground up. And your distrust for parents trying to instill any modicum of work ethic doesn't change the fact that seven figures gifted to each kid for the accident of their birth (on top of other "small gifts" like college and down payments, ffs) is the very definition of generational wealth. There's nothing to be determined.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grandfather patented two very profitable things that are still in use today. We should all be filthy rich but he divorced my grandma and remarried. She outlived him and I assume her kids/his stepkids are doing very well.

So it goes.

Np, remarriage w/deep pockets is such a bad idea. My dad remarried at 76 after my mom passed.

This is why I plead with my mother not to die before my father. I know he will marry a gold digger in the name of "propriety." If my father dies before my mom, I know she will never remarry.

I’d have her talk with a lawyer. A trust might help prevent that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grandfather patented two very profitable things that are still in use today. We should all be filthy rich but he divorced my grandma and remarried. She outlived him and I assume her kids/his stepkids are doing very well.

So it goes.

Np, remarriage w/deep pockets is such a bad idea. My dad remarried at 76 after my mom passed.

This is why I plead with my mother not to die before my father. I know he will marry a gold digger in the name of "propriety." If my father dies before my mom, I know she will never remarry.

Same. My mom would have remained single had she outlived my dad.

My MIL has a longtime companion of her age after FIL passed away but she will not remarry. The difference with widowed men is that they usually prefer younger women who want their own families to ensure a share of the pie.

Women realize that men add work to their lives. Men realize that women do work and make life easier for them.