Gifts are the lifeblood of family

Gifts are the lifeblood of family. Parents give their children care, education, a place to live, clothes to wear, and so much more. In families with significant wealth, gifts play a large but often undiscussed role. They may take the forms of annual exclusion gifts, gifts of tuition, trust interests, shares in 2 business, and bequests. How these gifts are given may determine whether children go on to live happy, fulfilled lives or whether they lead lives of subsidy, dependency, and entitlement.

— from Legacy / The Logbook (Legacy/Epilogue) · Complete Family Wealth by James E Hughes Jr., Susan E. Massenzio, and Keith Whitaker

In the book

I can tell you that I have tried never to use a single one of the blessings I received at another person's expense, and never to feel that I was better than anyone, because the day you start feeling better than others is the day the rot sets in. Wealth itself doesn't cause this — but how a gift is given very much determines whether children grow into fulfilled lives or into lives of subsidy, dependency, and entitlement. The borrowed dream. There is a particular trap for the children of people who did well: someone says, in love, "because your grandfather succeeded, you can do whatever you like" — and it sounds like freedom, but it can quietly cut the nerve of your own ambition. — Legacy / The Logbook (Legacy/Epilogue)

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