“The only thing that you take with you when you are gone is what you leave behind.”
– John Allison
All of us know that we have to go some day. We are temporary residents of this world, and sooner or later we have to quit this place and depart. We also equally know that just as we came into this world empty handed, we have to go from this world empty handed. Even Alexander the Great directed that, on his death, his empty hands should be displayed outside his coffin, to give this message. No matter how much one may amass, and how so powerful one may be, someday one has to go and one cannot take anything with oneself. The only choice with us, then, is to choose what should happen to one’s wealth when one goes away. Whom to give? How much to give? And to decide on how much to dispose off while one is alive and how much to amass to leave it for one’s heirs.
It is human to leave behind one’s wealth for one’s children. One wants to provide for the future needs of the children. One wants to provide not only for the needs and comforts, but even luxuries. However, this may not be in the best interest of our children.
One has to remember what our scriptures teach us. They teach us that “Lakshmi” is “Chanchal” – volatile and does not like to stay at the same place for long. Our elders also tell us that rarely does wealth stay in a family for three generations. The first one gathers wealth, the second manages to preserve it, and the third squanders it. History tells us that people usually squander any money that they inherit and if they don’t squander it, their children surely will. Will this be the fate of what we leave behind for our children?
Hence, one has also to think of how much one should leave for them so that they do not lose all their initiative to work and excel in life. The dilemma is, how much is sufficient to look after their needs and comforts. The next issue is, how to distribute this wealth. How much should go to each of the heirs. Most of the time the wealth left behind itself becomes a source of discord, disharmony, quarrels, and even litigation.
I am reminded of the Chinese proverb that says, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for one day. Teach a man how to fish and you feed him for a life time.” The same is also true about wealth. It is better to spend and teach a child to earn a living than to provide him with enough wealth.
All these point to one thing. Leave behind legacies for children but make them fit to be able to use it judiciously and not to squander it. It should help them to be better human beings. If one has wealth more than what one’s children will ever need, better give away the excess during one’s lifetime or, through one’s wills, to charities. There are enough people who need money even to provide for their basic needs.
While it is important to provide for the needs of our children, it is equally important to teach them about money itself. They must understand that money beyond a certain basic level of providing one’s needs cannot bring true happiness. Properly handled it can ensure one’s financial future, but if not handled carefully it can fly off in no time. In our lifetime we must imbibe in them the right values of earning, preserving and spending money. It is only then that wealth will remain in the family. It is not only on how to invest money, but also how to earn it and spend it that are important.
I conclude by quoting:
“If you have just two pennies in the world, spend one on a loaf of bread; the other on a flower. The bread will give you the means to live, the flower a reason for living.”
