To kick off our week there’s no one better to get you thinking outside the typical money management box than our long-time friend Randy Alcorn, author of “Money, Possessions and Eternity”, and founder and director of Eternal Perspectives Ministries. Here are his thoughts on the commonly accepted financial strategy of building up an inheritance for our children after we’re gone, quoted from “The Treasure Principle”.
"What about our children?" you may ask. "Aren't we supposed to leave them all our money?” The answer is no.
Nanci and I will leave to our daughters only enough to be of modest assistance, but not enough to change their lifestyles or undercut their need to plan and pray with and depend on their husbands. We've communicated this, and they understand and agree with our plan to give most of our estate to God's kingdom.
Leaving a large inheritance to children is not just a missed opportunity to invest in God's kingdom. It's also rarely in the children's best interests.
I've heard countless inheritance horror stories over the years. Study the lives of people who have inherited significant wealth and you'll find that in the vast majority of cases, it's made them more unhappy, greedy, and cynical. Who needs to work hard when you've got all that money? Money funds new temptations, including addictions. Giving money to a careless spender is throwing gasoline on a fire. And nothing divides siblings more quickly than a large inheritance. Leaving more to God's kingdom and less to financially independent children is not just an act of love toward God, but toward them.
In Old Testament times, leaving an inheritance was critical, because children couldn't afford to buy their own land and could end up enslaved or unable to care for their parents. But today, inheritances are often windfalls coming to people who are financially independent and already have more than they need.
Andrew Carnegie said, "The almighty dollar bequeathed to a child is an almighty curse. No man has the right to handicap his son with such a burden as great wealth."
Your children should love the Lord, work hard, and experience the joy of trusting God. More important than leaving your children an inheritance is leaving them a spiritual heritage.
Let God decide how much to provide for your adult children. Once they're on their own, the money you've generated under God's provision doesn't belong to your children--it belongs to Him. After all, if your money manager died, what would you think if he left all your money to his children? [Pages 69-71]
No comments:
Post a Comment