Earning your Keep - Inheritance & Legacy.

My background is "working class". My father worked nights as a copper smelter & my mother worked part time on a cake factory production line. They worked hard for everything they had. Inheriting anything was never likely.

My husband & I inherited the houses of our parents when they died, but they weren't worth much & we shared the money with our daughter. My comfortable existance now is due to the fact that retirement lump sums were invested by my husband, who seems to have been either lucky or quite good at playing the stock market.

I don't believe in inherited wealth. So my daughter knows that when I die the majority of my money will go to charities. I hope she understands that it doesn't mean I don't love her - a great deal.

The reason for my stance are varied. I think in order to value money & spend it wisely you have to earn it. If you don't have to put in the effort it's easy to just take it for granted. Inheriting money, especially a lot of money, changes you, however much you think it won't. Inheriting money perpetuates the rich & poor divide. Having too much money can lead to spendthrift habits. "why pay less" rather than "why pay more". If you don't have to think about spending money your life changes & not necessarily for the better.

I believe you should live a life you can afford. If you are fortunate & have more than enough money I can't see why you should begrudge paying taxes to support the institutions of society & help less fortunate people. It is a pity though that we have such an unwieldy tax system that no one understands & which is not fit for purpose.

Some people seem to need to bolster their egos by their wealth. They are defined by what they have. Is that really what a human being is? How can an individual amass huge wealth & property & do nothing to spread that wealth across the divide to the poor & needy. They are cocooned in their disfunctional wealthy bubble. As power corrupts, so does money.

Money should work for the good of society & the people in it. Putting it in the hands of a priveledged few deprives the many. In my view legacy means more than just passing on your wealth to your children. Each person leaves a footprint when they die - the impact they have made on their part of the world. It should be a positive one.