Our children need only two things: Love and Discipline

Give them the best education you can afford, and impart to them the best values in life. After that you don’t have to worry if you left your children with too little, just enough, or too much.

Inheritance breaks relationships most of the time, no matter how big the inheritance is. Take the example of Jamby Madrigal heh

Enough to give them a good education. That is why life insurance is a necessity, we can never know what lies in the future, thus it is better to assure our children with good education.

There is no definite figure of how much inheritance is enough for your children. You could give them a billion pesos and lose them all in a month (i wonder though how would someone spend that much in a month =). Or give the same amount and raise them to 2 billion in the same period. The more important thing is how well you had raised your children such that they could a make a name for themselves, even without the mana. It all boils down to the values you had laid down as a parent – instilling discipline and responsibility promotes accountability; indolence to dependence. After all, you reap what you sow.

Btw, a colleague of mine shared that there are 3 ways to get rich: education, inheritance and marriage. Maybe true enough…

Being able to leave the children with a house and lot is a very good achievement. My father died a couple of years ago and he left us with a house & lot and his business. I’m handling the business now, but to be honest I can do without it. My brothers and I have been well educated and I know I can do other things with my life (put up another business or build a career). As far as material things are concerned, what I really appreciate most is having a nice and safe house to live in.

Tiu is right IMO.

@Gerard. Honestly, a nice house and lot in the city would be nice too, heh. But strictly speaking, you are right. If they are well adjusted children and know how to work hard, there won’t be anything to fear about the future. Unless they are sickly or something like that?

Troy and Raphael, this thing with Jamby Madrigal has been fodder for gossip in many circles, eh? Do you think the size of the inheritance has anything to do with it? Or does the prospect of getting something from parents when they die make things a little bit awkward, whether or not that something is just a couple of properties or billions worth? There’s an article in The New York Times that the huge transfer of intergenerational wealth expected in he coming years is making Americans think not just about the money, but the values that come with it. Perhaps talking openly about the inheritance will make the transfer smoother, but that has got to be a toughie in our culture, because Asians don’t like to talk about death and money!

Mike, oh that’s a great challenge! Spending P1B in a month, hehe.

Greg, I can see why you would say that and I totally agree. Flipside: I have also seen how weird children can get when parents are old and dying and there’s still no clear statements on who will get what, including the house. Maybe, your family did well in discussing the issue? How did you do it?

What if I have no material things to inhert?

I’m 6th out of 8 siblings in the our family. I’m the only one not working in our family business, and the remaining single. I’m doing things on my own such as doing IT consultancy plus my agri-business. I recently started my stock investment. I’m all doing this as if I will not have my own inheritance. I’m challenging myself to get productive and not dependent on my possible inheritance to finance my BUMhood.

As for inheritance we need not talk about it because we have vacant lots for each of us, just waiting for our houses to be built. My plan is to buy lots for my future children plus a buffer fund for housing and some extras. It’s a given that our 2nd eldest that shall take Our family business, as he was working there since college; he’s currently in-charge of the business operations, as my father work part-time now. We have no qualms about it even there are no formal declarations. My dad even offered some of my brothers to open up a branch so in turn it can be their very own business, but nobody took it - we can take it as sign who’s worthy to take the business. Me? I can’t because I have my own direction.

AS Rafel and Troy said that a good education is the best inheritance. Adding to that, Gerard said “Love and Discipline”, I’m taking it to mean as Love for social virtues and Discipline for practical virtues which includes resposibility and money management. If you have that Discipline you don’t have to worry what Mike says about spending an inherited Billions, you could even make it grow. Greg has a good point about house and lot, it’s one of the costliest property a common person shall buy so its a relief for those who shall inherit.

To answer the question what’s “too much,” what’s “just enough” and what’s “not enough? my reply is “Parable of the Talents”

There is nothing wrong when a parents leave an inheritance to his favority son, daughters or children. Who else will benefits of all the fruits of their labor? Of course his immediate children. I don’t believe that a son or daughter will squander all the inherited wealth. Except that these wealth came from evil ways and sources, definitely it will be gone for nothing. As the Bible says, GOOD parents leave and inheritance to his children. Along with the wealth that parents ginherited to their children comes the good attitude and character that molds them among the years of their supervision.

Inheritance is for rich family. Education is still the best pamana we can give to our children.

not much material things to inherit for me. Support for my parents also add to my budget.

The best inheritance probably is education. we’re seven in a family, but we all made it through college even if my mother is a low-salaried public school teacher while my father’s handicraft business took a nosedive.

hardships in life helped me to live simple life even if my monthly pay’s rising

i did not receive financial inheritance….. but i got a decent education and training….. 2 asset thatl made me financially independent….

would have been much better if you leave some for your kids to jumpstart their enterprises…… say 3-5million pesos as seed money to help them along, aside from education and character formation…. in essence, you are buying some time and tilting the odds for your children to make it in a shorter time

How much inheritance?

It may be relative - but it all boils down to leaving your children with a fighting chance to make it far in life.

What not to leave your children? One word - DEBT.

On the subject of accumulated wealth and hence passed on to children by their parents is something very personal and a family choice. It is also up to children how to spend or manage the properties or the lump sum of money left to them. I think this has nothing to do with cultural values. But if you are a wise son or daughter who love, respect and adore your parents, why would you just squander the hard earned money your parents or grandparents or descendants worked for? Unless of course you are irresponsible and have no regard or appreciation for hard work and no concern or plan to improve life in the future which in this instance I can understand your lack of interest or desire in valuing or managing well what has been entrusted to you by the mere people who loved you and wanted to change the course of your life by providing you and your offsprings some wealth. Think about that.

what if you have only 2 choices for your assets: for inheritance to children or annuity/pension for old age including medical care.which would you take? is education enough without working capital when they graduate? if there is unequal support of children during your old age, will inheritance just create conflict?

As long as I don’t have to support them financially is enough inheritance for me.

What inheritance means for this two wealthiest people……

These two philanthropist are giving portion of their wealth to those in need, leaving children given enough for their future generation…..

Giving to family is one thing but giving to many people is many things…. that (my friend) would be a legacy to remember….

“I am Legend”

What inheritance means for this two wealthiest people……

“Bill Gates & Warren Buffet”

These two philanthropist are giving portion of their wealth to those in need, leaving children given enough for their future generation…..

Giving to family is one thing but giving to many people is many things…. that (my friend) would be a legacy to remember….

“I am Legend”

I don’t really believe in inheritance, although it depends on the age of my children. I’ll make it sure to have a will to leave money for them while they are minors.

BUT, once they reach adulthood, the only thing they can inherit from me is the house they grew up in - but only because of the sentimental value attached. Any other assets I have will be given to causes I believe in. Plus, I believe that having my children take charge of their finances and life will allow them to learn a lot of helpful lessons that they would miss if they were automatically dealt a good hand.

The money can easily go away. But the lessons and experiences they’ll gain first hand will always be there.

My favorite justification for this can be best said in the words of US Billionaire Warren Buffet who says that “There’s no reason why future generations of little Buffetts should command society just because they came from the right womb. Where’s the justice in that?”

Buffet doesn’t believe in inheritance, and plans to give away most of his billions to charity when he passes away.

As a parent, it will be a great advantage to give pamana, tangible assets, like properties, business or cash, aside from education. With proper guidance, discipline,frugality, and setting a good example, I don’t believe children will squander the hard earned pamana. As a businessperson, I assume that my children will continue with our business and will be much better businessmen than we are. So at their young age, I trained, advice, and discipline them regarding their finances. We all want the best for our children. Of course, we should also set aside a certain amount of money for our retirement.

Germany is the No. 3 country with the most billionaire in the World. They have their fortune mostly by inheritance.

Inheritance is a benchmark for the next generation to peform with.

Money beget money. What I am trying to say, it’s good to start from something rather from nothing.

I want to share what i read from somewhere:

“What we have done for ourselves die with us, but what we have done for others remain.

We make a living from what we get, but we make LIFE through what we give.”

Jesus Christ our Lord is right in saying that it is better to give than to receive.

God bless you all.

Terrific education, good name, breeding, and ample opportunities for my children to let them stand on their own are the greatest legacies that I can think of. I do not believe that kids should inherit anything material from me. They have to earn their keep. My value system is basically Filipino influenced by Buddhist thought. Leaving behind something to the public is a legacy. The thought that such act of charity can influence and change the lives of not one or two but many is uplifting. It sets forth a good example for people to follow. I have raised my kids guided by this philosophy. I have worked hard to give them the best education that I could afford and sent them to the best schools where their minds could take them. I make them travel even on their own to educate them and not for mere sightseeing. I don’t believe in big houses, flashy cars and brands (which are good only if I receive them as gifts). I have stressed that they won’t get anything material from me. I told them that that way, they won’t have anything to disagree or quarrel about. I struggled to give them a decent life. They too should do the same. They should be able to do more and reach higher heights because of the quality of education that I strived to give them. Meanwhile, I have scholars in the Philippines. I spend for their education. Some of them have finished college and now have work. The happiness they give me every time they come to visit me feels like money invested well, earning good interest.

Speaking of quotes from Warren Buffet, there is one quote from his 1986 Fortune interview where he described perfect inheritance as “enough money so that they (his family) feel they could do anything, but not so much they could do nothing.”

Although it is all in the news that Buffet is leaving his holdings in Berkshire Hathaway to Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, it is not that he is leaving nothing to his family. It only means he had already provided enough for a comfortable life and he is not planning to give anything more. He feels he had left enough wealth to provide opportunities for his family and avoid supporting unproductive lives. For me, this should be the balance that we should strive for.

i believe that a good education is the least inheritance. my parents invested only in our education - eldest sister is a nurse, second sister is an electrical engineer and the youngest sister is a psychology grad in a brood of six. yet my older & younger brothers are still nursing and computer science undergrad respectively.

after reading “how did you make your first million?”, i realized i just had earned my first million two months ago since i started working in the gulf as a civil engineer. being single and earning a ‘higher salary’, barely 15% of it went to my personal account. but that’s a different story.

Inheritance is good if the people you are leaving it with knows how to make it work for them.

Inheritance tax - not very good

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Yey, it worked!

Allow me to put a numerical value to this discussion. (Forgive me, I’m an engineer, I can’t help myself ^^). Most financial advisers would suggest you at least save 6 months worth in your bank account, that is, if you need P20,000 to live comfortably in a month, you should at least have P120,000 (20,000 x 6) in your account. The assumption is that 6 months is more than enough time for anyone to be able to find another source of income.

When it comes to inheritance, I believe the same principle should be applied: Leave enough to give your family enough time for them to be able to find a new source of income and establish themselves without having to change their current lifestyle drastically.

As to how much time would be enough really depends on the individuals involved. This is where, I think, proper education, values oriented upbringing, etc. comes in.

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Allow me to put a numerical value to this discussion. (Forgive me, I’m an engineer, I can’t help myself ^^). Most financial advisers would suggest you at least save 6 months worth in your bank account, that is, if you need P20,000 to live comfortably in a month, you should at least have P120,000 (20,000 x 6) in your account. The assumption is that 6 months is more than enough time for anyone to be able to find another source of income.

When it comes to inheritance, I believe the same principle should be applied: Leave enough to give your family enough time for them to be able to find a new source of income and establish themselves without having to change their current lifestyle drastically.

As to how much time would be enough really depends on the individuals involved. This is where, I think, proper education, values oriented upbringing, etc. comes in.

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IHMO large cash in bank is not good. I would go for: 1. house and lot, 2. good education, 3. good values, 4. paid travels to other culture/countries.

Let me add to my earlier comment. Another is, in every family we have the most talented, good looks, and able/skilled (ang pinagpala), and of course the least (ang tulog ng umulan ng talento at kagandahan, hehe) (by nature designs, I guess), so I would give more to the later (wawa naman), and less to the former.

The subject of inheritance is something deeply rooted in our culture. The usual thing that happens is for the parents to divide whatever wealth they have amassed in their lives to their children, some equally while in some cases, according to their merits in the eyes of the parents.

I see no problem in leaving them the inheritanceas long as they have been prepared properly through the years to take the responsibility associated with such wealth.

Take a look at the old rich families like the Ayalas, the Aranetas, etc. Or even the current taipans who made it big through the years like the Gokongweis, Sys, Tans, Yuchengcos. These families have prepared the next generations to assume the leadership of the family’s big corporations/businesses by getting them ready probably even while they were still children.

It is important to give them the proper education, training and the right character and attitude for them to take the responsibility for the next generation’s control of the wealth that their forebears worked so hard to establish. This is precisely the veyr formula by which these old rich have maintaned their status in society.

For me, if I have some wealth to leave to my children, I would buy enough life insurance so that the wealth I will give to them would not be eaten by estate taxes.

And of course, I will ensure that they have been raised properly to be responsible individuals who will balance their wealth creation with their socio-civic obligations.

There is no point in amassing so much wealth when you are surrounded by poverty. Soon, you’ll have no one to buy your goods and services and you’ll end up very, very lonely indeed. My formula is to build my community as I build my wealth.