I wonder how many other billioniares have this large family problem.

I remember watching a documentary a few years ago called Born Rich, which interviewed a number of children of filthy rich families. (The documentary was shot by an heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune.)

I particularly remember one scene where the director (Jamie Johnson) is interviewing his father and asking what he (himself) should do with his life. His dad, who has never worked a day in his life, says that maybe he should join some charitable organizations. The director/heir pushes further, and says, what if he wants to do more, to have a career. The dad is visibly puzzled, and he suggests that his son take up a hobby “like collecting old maps.”

Hilarious!

The truth is, if you have the Midas Fortune “problem” the way to lead is by example. Don’t live extravagantly. Work at a job. Save. Defer gratification. In short, don’t live the life of a rich man. (Some might argue this defeats the purpose of being rich.)

On a personal note, my father got a decent (but not sickeningly large) inheritance, and throughout his life, he invested the money wisely, buying real estate and other assets, and growing the size of the inheritance. A few years ago, I asked him why he and my mom didn’t live it up a bit more since they could clearly afford to–you know, stuff like flying business class on long trips, buying a new car every 5 years instead of every 15 years, etc.

My dad’s answer was telling. He said he wanted to leave some of the money to me and my sister, because he didn’t feel like the money belonged to him. Instead, he said he felt that it was his father’s money, and his job was just to take care of it and pass it along to the next generation. (In the same vein, he paid for most of our educations–private high school, private college, 50% of law school for me, and 100% of physical therapy grad school for my sister. He said that his father had paid for his education, and it was his obligation to pay for ours.)

Fortunately, my wife and I are doing just fine without any inheritance. However, I have no doubt that when we receive our respective inheritances, we will take the same “custodial responsibility” with the money for our own child, and I hope our child will do the same.