Despite being on record saying that 4:44 is an alright album at best, it’s hard to walk away from it without a few glancing thoughts on generational wealth. And as often as being a lawyer runs in the family, you’ve gotta figure out who you grind hours for besides firm partners. For many lawyers, the obvious answer would be for their kids, but that answer might not be as simple as it seems. About 70% of millionaires worry that leaving their children too much money might actually be a problem. They worry that too large of an inheritance could be mismanaged or instill laziness. Previously, I thought that this was just a concern that the mega rich have, but given stories I’ve heard of frat bros with loaded parents who’ve gotten away with way more than they should have in undergrad because of the dollars in their pockets, it’s something we need to think about. God forbid you raise a kid that habitually suffers from “affluenza.”
So, will you play ball with your kids until they’re old enough to pass the legal torch to? Make money for your kids to make money for their kids until global warming gets us? Tell them to chase their Barry Bonds dreams and go into sports? Just buy your children bonds and avoid the conversation altogether? Let me know at cwilliams@abovethelaw.comcwilliams@abovethelaw.comcwilliams@abovethelaw.com and share some financial advice with our little community. All information that is read and shared will be anonymous unless requested otherwise. Let’s figure it out together.
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s. Before that, he wrote columns for an online magazine named The Muse Collaborative under the pen name Knehmo. He endured the great state of Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com.
