Ideas about Generational Wealth

In response to a Financial Samurai article on ethical wealth accumulation, the blog post discusses the challenges of wealth and parenting. The author advocates for moderation and imparting an abundance mindset to children, arguing against zero-sum thinking. Highlighting examples of system manipulation, from Tim Ferriss’s kickboxing championship to the Subaru Brat, the post underscores the idea that wealth and skills are abundant, not exclusive. The writer concludes promoting the generational transfer of wealth in various forms, beyond just the financial aspect.

This blog post is actually a response to an article at Financial Samurai – Gaming The System For More Wealth Is Becoming More Acceptable. I think FS is one my favorite websites dedicated to learning more about economics, investing, wealth-creation, etc.

Abundance Mindset and the Next Generation

In general, I believe (imho) that raising kids can be very challenging, and I am far from an expert in the matter. But, I’m guessing that like many things moderation is probably a good first bet.

The basic underlying question posed is: How does a wealthy family go about raising their children to be happy and successful, without the kids becoming spoiled, lazy, etc? I don’t know the answer, am not an expert, etc. But besides moderation, I also think it’s important to pass on skills and an abundance mindset.

In terms of “money” and wealth, I believe (imho) that, for most people in the modern world, wealth is (in the longer term, for most people) an abundant concept and potential possibility.

If someone starts to behave based on zero-sum thinking (whether they have zero or 1 billion in the bank), they may have a situation for reconsidering shifting to a more abundance-based mindset. Easier said than done, for sure – but I believe (on the balance of probabilities) that using an abundance mindset (and finding the “third way”) will generally produce more favorable results in the longer-term.

In any case best wishes! Here’s the little response I had (also available in the comments section of the original article). The parts in italics (below) are added commentary, etc.

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Response to Gaming the System

Lots of good food for thought in this article- but in terms of sports it reminds of how Tim Ferriss won the Chinese National Kickboxing Championship. While he technically followed the rules, many people (including himself perhaps) would argue that he “gamed the system” – or was it a life hack?

While many within the kickboxing world might view this in a negative light – it still has some humorous aspect to it as well.

“The judges reportedly weren’t happy about the outcome, but their hands were tied, and also they were probably frightened that Ferris might shove them.”

Also, gaming the system brought us the Subaru Brat (avoiding the 70s “chicken tax”) haha 🙂 Plus things like how Converse All-Stars slippers – I mean sneakers haha.

Links to Examples of Gaming the System

This of course (perhaps arguably) differs from how VW tweaked their diesel cars to pass emissions test in the US, etc.

Moderation, Abundance and Community

On a more serious note – is any person an island or even an isthmus?

My guess would be all things in moderation – most people actually want to work and create – Imho people who don’t want to create/contribute etc actually may have other issues/challenges to overcome – the wealth may just exacerbate the condition in certain ways.

Ad Absurdum Arguments

While ad absurdum is basically a form of cognitive bias, I think (using adsurdum) also highlights how some arguments might not make sense on a logical level when one starts to implement them in scenarios other than the original scenario.

Rather, they are more general cultural practices that people start to view as a logical sort of way to address a certain challenge – perfectly acceptable, but not (imho) the same as (mostly logical) argument, etc.

In terms of more “ad absurdum” arguments:

Should parents even teach their kids how to speak? What about 2 languages? What about more desirable/employable languages like English? Should all parents not teach their kids English, since that might be gaming the system?

Doesn’t learning how to speak English give kids a leg up compared to kids that don’t learn to speak English?

What about learning other skills at home that other people may not know/learn from their parents – music, sports, math, history, languages, construction, real estate, etc?

Wealth from the Larger Community

And what about cheap debt (in the US) financed from the “petrodollar”/Fed/deposit insurance/etc? And possibly arbitraged between the interest rate and inflation rate, etc? Should all people in the US not buy houses (and go camping?) since it’s financed via an “unfair” monetary system advantage?

Also, as an aside – the only book that I’ve read about how parents should pass generational wealth on to their kids – happened to mention philanthropy as an important aspect – but also happened to be authored by the head of Ivy League college philanthropy office 🙂

That being said – it still is a great book with a lot of good ideas – it’s just good to also always “Consider the Source”.

Many Forms of Wealth to Give

In terms of passing on wealth to the next generation. I believe everyone should actually try to pass on as much wealth, knowledge, joy, abundance, good experiences, love, etc as possible – to their kids and hopefully other people too!

Most things in modern life are actually probably more abundant and less a zero-sum game than some might perhaps think.
(imho)

For example, the number of languages on person speaks (books read, skills mastered, instruments played, etc) doesn’t really affect the number of languages another person speaks, etc.

But everything in moderation is also probably a good idea, too.

In any case, best wishes to everyone.