We want to retire early with $8-12 million in our nest egg. How much should we leave for our four young daughters?

Dear Dave,

My wife and I started out broke when we married. Since then, we’ve been very blessed in our work and investments. We’re currently looking at retiring early in a few years, with a nest egg of somewhere between $8 million and $12 million. Our four daughters, all between the ages of 7 and 12, have been raised in the church, and we’ve tried our best to teach them to love God, not money. Is there a certain limit we should look at in terms of how much we leave them as an inheritance?

Mark

Dear Mark,

First off, wow! You two have done an incredible job managing your money. I’m so proud of you and what you’ve been able to accomplish.

Honestly, I don’t look at things like this in terms of an amount, but as a principle. You aren’t obligated, biblically or otherwise, to leave your money to your kids. At the same time, I think it’s wrong to assume that leaving them your money will damage them in some way. Wealth always magnifies the character of the person holding it. That includes both their positive and negative traits. You said you’re raising your girls to love God and understand that the church is important. I believe those are great first steps toward teaching children to have good, strong character.

One of the first things we taught our kids about, aside from God, was how they were not entitled to anything just because they hit the gene pool lottery. Another thing we taught them was that in order to be qualified to manage the Ramsey wealth, they had to understand they didn’t own it — God did. Every bit of it. Their job was to manage it wisely. Once you understand that concept, you also begin to realize why the Bible has so many warnings about wealth. It’s a heavy thing to carry in a wise manner.

The Bible tells us that a good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children (Proverbs 13:22). But at the same time, you don’t want your hard-earned money going to fund a cocaine habit for some here today, gone tomorrow reality television star on the back of a yacht. It sounds to me like you and your wife are doing a great job — not only with your money but also with raising your girls to know right from wrong and to have a sound, biblically based moral compass.

Finally, Mark, one thing I want you to avoid falling for is the thread running through some of our Christian churches that says money is a bad thing. It’s not. Money is a tool, one that’s not inherently good or bad. It can be used responsibly or irresponsibly, depending on the holder, and it exposes the morals and character of the people it touches.

Your job as parents is to raise kids who grow into adults with the morals and character to manage this huge financial legacy wisely for the Lord. If you do your job well (and I think you’re off to a good start), the wealth you leave them will truly be a blessing.

— Dave

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