Wealthy celebrities like Daniel Craig and entrepreneurs like Warren Buffett and Kevin O’Leary aren’t the only ones concerned about leaving too much money to their children: Millionaires are increasingly worried about how much of their fortunes to give to their kids.
That’s according to a survey conducted by The Motley Fool, which asked 2,000 high net worth individuals — classified as people with a net worth over $1 million — about their attitudes toward inheritances.
Among the top concerns the individuals surveyed had was the possibility of leaving too much money for their heirs, something that 67% of respondents mentioned.
The respondents had numerous concerns about the effects of leaving too much money to their heirs, including that the wealth would be “used irresponsibly” or that it “would cause beneficiaries to be lazy.”
“What’s clear is that high net worth individuals are concerned about the effects of leaving too large an inheritance,” Motley Fool research analyst Jack Caporal tells CNBC Make It. “They are aware of and actively considering leaving inheritances with conditions that incentivize their heirs to pick up on values that they think are important, such as hard work, doing well in school and finding a good career track.”
The survey found that 85% of high net worth individuals who had to meet certain conditions to receive their own inheritance agree that it is possible to leave too much money to an heir. Among respondents who received an inheritance worth between $500,000 and $1 million, 84% agreed.
“The results and their responses were definitely guided by their own experiences, which is interesting because you get a sense from them that these were not unfounded concerns, but that they relate to their own experiences having inherited a lot of wealth,” Caporal says.
However, only 78.5% of those who received inheritances between $100,000 and $500,000 agreed and 69% of those who received less than $100,000 did.
But despite their concerns over what size inheritance they should leave, 60% of survey respondents said they found it “very important” to leave an inheritance and roughly 34% said they planned to leave over 50% of their assets to their heirs.
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