Kids and Money: Navigating Wealth Opportunities and Risks

One of the most common topics on the minds of wealthy parents and grandparents today is the impact of significant wealth on their children. At Corient, we regularly hold honest, animated and insightful discussions on this topic. Our clients often come to us with thoughtful questions to get the conversation started:

“How can I give my children the opportunities that wealth provides without making them entitled?”

“How much is too much?”

“When should we talk to them about the family’s wealth—and how?”

These questions are not new, but they seem more pressing now than ever before. It is common to want to give your kids the best of everything, but wealthy families may also worry about protecting their initiative, work ethic and values. Parents want to raise grounded, self-aware people, but recognize that significant wealth can either support that goal or undermine it.

Here are a few thoughts from these conversations that will hopefully resonate with you and offer food for thought as you consider your own family dynamics. The conversations have been distilled and grouped into three core ideas.

1. Money is an amplifier of all things

Wealth magnifies what’s already present—both the good and the bad. It can be a powerful enabler of education, creativity, opportunity and generosity. But it can also distort perspective, decrease motivation and stunt emotional development. Jay Hughes, a pioneer in family wealth management, noted that approximately 80% of trust beneficiaries view their trusts as a burden.¹  Why? Because wealth, if not handled intentionally, can feel like a meteor that’s crashing into a life rather than lifting it up.

Many families want to be generous with their rising generations, but may underestimate the long-term effects of this generosity. Entrepreneurs, for example, often built their success through struggle and perseverance. But their children, raised in comfort, may not face the same tests, and with that may come a loss of direction or purpose. While we can’t—and shouldn’t—create unnecessary hardship for them, we can provide thoughtful conditions that encourage growth, responsibility and independence.

2. Don’t parent with your wallet

One of the most common patterns we’ve observed is using money to smooth the road for our kids. It’s tempting. Money and influence can solve problems quickly, like getting them into a better school, paying off a credit card, or covering rent when a job doesn’t work out. But when we solve every problem for our children, we rob them of the muscle-building that happens through natural consequences as part of the maturation process.

An example: Your son in college goes through his monthly spending budget in two weeks. You wire money instantly, instead of letting him do without for the rest of the month to learn about budgeting, self-discipline and delayed gratification. Short-term problem solved, but long-term lesson missed.

Typically, the most successful families from a wealth management and family well-being perspective are the ones who encourage independence and delay financial assistance until it’s most impactful, often using a “milestone” approach. Help with the cost of education, a first car, a home down payment—but only when it aligns with maturity and effort. These moments, when handled thoughtfully, help to build a strong foundation.

3. Invest as much in human capital as in financial capital

Perhaps the most important shift families can make is flipping the traditional script of spending far more time “preparing the money for the heirs” than “preparing the heirs for the money.” It’s time to reverse that.

Preparing our kids to be good stewards of wealth means investing deeply in human capital—their skills, their confidence and their values. It starts with understanding your own. Legacy is not just about money, but is rather about character, stories and the values we live by. Do you want your kids to remember you for your résumé virtues versus eulogy virtues? It’s important for us to live the values that we want to pass along to the next generation, discussing, reflecting on and modelling with intention—especially when it comes to money.

Here are five takeaways that often work well for affluent families:

1. Write down your values and live them consistently—children notice more than we think.
2. Explain your choices—why you donate, why you save, why you help others.
3. Encourage responsibility early—allowances, chores and consequences matter.
4. Use storytelling—your life lessons, successes and failures are powerful.
5. Integrate values into wealth planning—ensure your estate and giving plans reflect what you care about.

A framework for intentional wealth transfer

In an insightful paper called The Progenitor’s Dilemma (by Baumoel, Trippe and Spencer),² the authors describe two key factors in wealth transfer:

• The rate of transfer—how fast, how much, how often, and how consistently you give.
• The quality of communication—how well your values, intentions and expectations are conveyed to the people to whom you are giving.

*For illustrative purposes only.

The goal is to have predictable, high-quality communication. Families that create a thoughtful plan and explain why they are doing what they’re doing, rather than keeping things mysterious or reactive, tend to raise children who feel respected, prepared and empowered, rather than confused or entitled.

Final thoughts

Preparing the next generation for wealth—and for life—is one of the most important and complex challenges any family will face. And with the right tools, advisors and conversations, families can turn their wealth into a positive force for the rising generation.

At Corient, we are privileged to walk side-by-side with families on this journey, offering the knowledgeable guidance and counsel they need along the way. Our goal is not just to manage financial capital, but to help strengthen the human capital that makes family wealth truly meaningful and enduring. The rising generation is watching. Let’s give them something worth inheriting—not just in dollars, but in values, wisdom and love.

If you’re interested in exploring how your family can manage the complexities of financial capital and intergenerational wealth more effectively, please reach out to Corient today.

¹ Source: Family Trusts: A Guide for Beneficiaries, Trustees, Trust Protectors, and Trust Creators

² Doug Baumoel, Blair Trippe, and Katie Spencer, “The Progenitor's Dilemma: Avoiding Entitlement When Transferring Wealth,” The International Family Offices Journal, March 2020, Globe Law and Business.

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CAN5205852 – February 2026