Inheriting a Perpetual Money Machine

I have boasted in the past about not only being second generation FI but also third generation FI.  My path to financial independence, however, was not inherited.  Although I benefited from having savvy parents who contributed heavily to my education and well-being, at some point I had to build wealth on my own.  Inheriting a perpetual money machine was never an option.   But should it have been?  Sometimes I wonder if successive generations should be passed down more than just the blueprints.  Should they actually be bequeathed the existing apparatus?

This would mean not only handing off the knowledge but also the side hustles, passive income streams, or dividends stocks to our children such that wealth would accrue automatically without active input.

Year after year, century after century, small enhancements could build financial security for all ones progeny for generations.

Blueprints

When I say that inheriting a perpetual money machine was not an option, I am being slightly dishonest.  While my parents didn’t pass me the actual nuts and bolts, they did create a general blueprint of financial success.  Through superior financial independence modeling they taught me about stealth wealth, investing, and side hustles.

In fact, the only reason I am not a fiscal moron today is because my parents were too busy being successful.  This non monetary inheritance gave me all the insight and knowledge that I would ever need to be successful and financially secure.

But they wouldn’t build it for me.

I had to do that myself.

Pros

There are a number of reasons why inheriting a perpetual money machine would be a good thing.  For one, the income streams are already well established and often need only minimal tweaking.  Real estate, for instance, may need some updating or active management.  But the sons and daughters could take over the reins with minimal extra work.  Why recreate the wheel with each successive generation?

We, as parents, fight to overthrow the hegemony of W2 employment and escape the chains wrapped around us by the proverbial man.  Why ever would we force our children to start their life pathways in the same indentured servitude?

Think about how much we could have accomplished if financial independence was already a foregone conclusion.  In the best of cases, we could have started living our best lives immediately, and searching for non monetary influenced purpose from day one.

Wouldn’t that be more healthy?

Cons

You can bring a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.  At some point in our lives, we have to build our own empire and create our own goodness.  Why?  Because children who are given everything and don’t earn anything end up being more unhappy than not.

Inheriting a perpetual money machine saps the responsibility and sense of accomplishment from the second generation.  Although not exactly pulling yourself up from the boot straps, earning your own way in the world leads to sense of confidence and humility that is sorely lacking in trust fund kids.

It is a commonly known fact that great wealth is often dissipated over the generations instead of built further up.

Final Thoughts

I don’t know the answer to this question.  Inheriting a perpetual money machine may sound like a boon, but also may do more harm than good.  Although I truly believe that every adult has to find their own way, I can’t help but think of the power of the financial independence apparatus that we spend so much time building.

Why throw out the golden goose that lays the eggs?

Why dismantle the printing press?

I have committed to paying for my children’s education and providing the knowledge and money necessary for a nice launching pad.

Will my generosity go further than that?

I have no idea.