Which results in wealth effectively becoming a taboo subject in most circles with wealthy families not being sure how to approach the subject constructively with their children, which can result in inheritances being squandered and the next generation of a family business not being ready to put in the work it takes to keep a wealthy legacy alive.
Secrets hamper action
When you don’t feel you can openly speak about a certain subject, it often stops you from analysing the latent potential sitting within that subject. A perfect illustration of this is when parents refrain from talking to their children from an early age about how wealthy the family is, and how much money those children could be set to inherit.
This hesitation often comes from a place of not wanting to spoil the children and end up with them never learning money sense, or how to work for the things they want and need themselves.
The truth though is that if you embrace the subject of money openly and honestly as early as possible within your family, then you have the time to teach your children positive money practices, as well as enable them to understand the responsibilities wealth brings to their lives.
Wealth should always be a good thing
Often people who have come into wealth without feeling like they worked for it can actually feel despondent about it, increasing the shroud of secrecy around the subject.
Entrepreneurs tend to feel proud of their wealth, because they inherently know that they worked hard for it – but those inheriting and coming into large sums of money via easier, quicker means tend to feel embarrassed at how easy it came to them.
This is a dangerous path to go down, as something someone feels awkward about cannot be used openly and positively to not only aid that person, but also others.
One of the main stress factors about coming into wealth can be on a personal level – like when a person from a wealthy family marries someone from a family with much less money.
This can often lead to problems within the now joined families, as the wealth from one side can be resented by the side with less to give to the happy couple.
Make it a positive aspect of your life
The reality is that wealth is not only a “nice to have”, but gives a person with the right mind-set enormous capabilities to uplift their communities positively.
When you openly embrace your wealth, then it can become a tool that you can assess from any angle you need to create and enable positive outcomes. The responsibility of wealth can either be a burden or an enriching aspect of your life. Acknowledging is the first step to being able to turn that wealth from a status to a purpose.
And when a wealthy person running a family managed business has purpose in the way they use their capital, they are able to make an amazing impact in the community around their business.
Article published by Mike Walker – Partner KPMG UK.
