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Originally Posted by squiggs96
Why shouldn't these people keep the wealth their families have worked so hard to attain? Why can't the families pass down wealth to their children?
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There's something to be said for people like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett who are donating almost all of their wealth to charity instead of giving it to their children. Buffett once said (paraphrasing), "I want my children to have enough money that they can afford to do anything; I don't want them to have so much money that they can afford to do nothing."
I also read a story about Yu Pengnian, a billionaire philanthropist in China, who is giving away his entire fortune. When asked why he wasn't leaving anything to his children, he replied, “If my children are competent, they don’t need my money. If they’re not, leaving them a lot of money is only doing them harm.”
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Isn't that one of the main reasons to accumulate wealth? Are you suggesting that because the current generation didn't earn all of the current wealth that they should not be born into it? Where would be the incentive to earn more money if you can't pass it down to your children?
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My wife and I are never having children. Are you saying that we have no incentive to accumulate wealth since we'll have no offspring to leave it to?