Don’t under spend your income/savings

I know this is the opposite of what all financial planners espouse. Since many seem to enter retirement with too little savings under spending their money is just not possible. But for those of us who saved throughout their pre-retirement years we have, if no major health emergency hits us, more than we need for the absolute necessities.

If you managed to be part of the second group don’t leave all your savings to your heirs. You sacrificed throughout your life to put money aside so go ahead and spend it. I am one of those who believe that unearned wealth is more damaging than not. That is one reason I rail against the mantra of the “death” tax. Inherited wealth often ends up damaging the people who get it. Just look at the history of monarchies and European aristocracies. For a modern day version take a look at Paris Hilton! I imagine she would have been a very different person without Daddy’s wealth

So, if you do leave behind some wealth make sure it goes to organizations struggling to help humanity. That is what Warren Buffet and Bill Gates are doing. Their children only get a minuscule portion of their excessive wealth. The rest goes back to society for the common good.   But, whatever you do don’t leave it all to your children as you will only spoil them. It would be great if all of us could spend or otherwise disperse all of our wealth before we leave this earth. We enter this earth with nothing and we should leave it the same way. The only problem with this is that none of us can totally foresee our futures or exactly when we will die 🙂

And the journey goes on…