The best inheritance you can pass on to your children.

I was commenting in a newsletter service about a recent post, and I decided to copy and paste the latter part of that comment here.

I was just chatting with my kids, really trying to encourage them to spend more time learning financial literacy in general and investing. I wish I knew even the half of what I now know when I was their age. Back then during their school years, working full-time, where we got by, just keeping our heads above water but still with certain financial restraints. Basically, we could not spoil our children by giving them anything and everything they desired. Some things we couldn't and other things they simply had to wait. They had to save up their pocket money and money received from grandparents etc and wait for stuff they wanted. But in the long run, this had a very positive effect on how they viewed and used money they did receive. They would think two, three or four times before choosing to spend, it if at all.  

But despite this positive aspect we as parents were still financially illiterate ourselves not fully realising what fiat currency is, how our debt based monetary system works and the importance of knowing the difference between 'assets' and 'liabilities', buying the former and avoiding the latter like the plaque. This is the one regret I do have in my children's upbringing, teaching and stimulating them to be financially savvy instead of just passively being content with saving. Then their upbringing would have been complete financially speaking. Not only using and saving money wisely, but also making that money work for them.

Basically the greatest inheritance I would have wanted to pass on to them was the skill of becoming a financial fisherman, way more than being able to pass on to them an ocean of fish caught over a lifetime of work and investing. Because when you have mastered the art of fishing financially speaking even if your amassed wealth gets destroyed through market crashes, lost or stolen you possess the ability and confidence to start from scratch. So many of the greatest entrepreneurs and investors have gone through just that, made millions and then lost it all, and yet here they are today right back on top.

As Robert Kiyosaki and Steven Covey say; "Your mind (ability to earn) is your greatest asset"

So now my message to anyone would be, instead of prioritising the amassing of generational wealth to pass on to the great grand children, the first and foremost priority should be to teach and inculcating your children in how to become great investors like yourself. And the primary factor that is going to motivate and stimulate our children's interest in this somewhat boring, adult topic and pass time is going to be the very same driver that motivated us to want to learn, ...... a lack of fish .....😕. 

It does not mean they have to experience the financial hardships we experienced growing up, but it also does not mean overly protecting them so that they never experience not always getting what they want right now. Basically, we should never be spoiling our children.

The only way they will ever fully appreciate the hard work that it took you to be able to pass that wealth on to them is by them experiencing that work themselves in one way or the other.

I decided to Perplexity check my thesis, comparing how the rich teach their children about money versus how the working and middle class usually do it. I thought I knew it all, but apparently I didn't. Even when it comes to responsible giving and treating our kids, there are still a few extra things we can do that educates them at the same time;

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