While most Americans worry about having enough to leave behind, a new study finds that the ultrarich fear leaving too much behind and feeding "trust fund monsters."
Estate planning wealthtech firm Vanilla, which is backed by
Overall, respondents said they felt the most damaging result of a poor estate plan strategy was "leaving loved ones without enough capital," with 31% identifying that as a top fear. Some 27% said their biggest concern was "sparking
However, among the ultrarich — for the purposes of this study, those with at least $25 million of net household worth — the biggest fear was in fact creating "trust fund monsters": entitled children who would waste the family wealth. In fact, UHNW respondents were five times more likely to be concerned about spoiling their heirs than about
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The two biggest events that triggered respondents overall to start or revisit an estate plan were a change in personal health and the death of a friend or a relative.
"Almost every American is reactive when it comes to estate planning," said Jim Sinai, chief marketing officer of Vanilla, in an interview. "It takes something as scary as a friend or relative passing, to scare someone into thinking about their own plan. … This is why advisors should be thinking of estate planning as an ongoing conversation."
By knowing these triggers, advisors can make a point of using them to
Despite Americans' fears about what will happen to their wealth upon their death, survey respondents at all levels were
The news comes a few months after Vanilla announced the
An independent third-party group polled 1,049 U.S. consumers, aged 18 to 99, online for the report in June 2023. Some 55% were in the under $1 million wealth range — and most of those respondents reported under $100,000 of household income. Some 19% of total respondents had net household wealth of $1 million to $6 million; 11% were in the range of $6 million to $25 million; and 6% had $25 million or more. Around 9% of respondents were unsure of their total household wealth.