         These are true stories of men and women who have been challenged by (and who, often enough, have chosen to challenge) the wealth that has become theirs by virtue of inheritance. They have been born to the bright promise of money, but have also learned that such a lot is not without plenty of potential hazards, if not outright dangers. It is, I fear, all too easy for many of us who have never faced this particular kind of situation to be somewhat skeptical of the very real threats it can pose.
- Robert Coles, author of Children of Crisis series from the foreword to The Legacy of Inherited Wealth |
 |
 |
|
G E N E R A L C L I N I C A L
I S S U E S
p a g e 2
There are a number of reasons why people have traumatic responses when they inherit wealth: power dynamics within families can be exacerbated by the presence of wealth; negative family and cultural attitudes toward wealth commonly produce guilt and shame in heirs; and lifestyle choices, such as delegating childcare to nannies, can have harmful emotional effects. The moment of actually receiving wealth is often so shocking that therapists may see post-trauma symptomatology associated with the event years later. When my co-authors and I were interviewing inheritors for our book, The Challenges of Wealth, we repeatedly encountered inheritors who were kept entirely in the dark that anything extraordinary was going to happen to them until their twenty-first birthday, at which time their "birthday present" was the revelation of a trust fund that could, and usually did, turn their lives upside down. This event was often so disorienting that the heir went into complete denial about the money, got depressed or embarked on a dangerous spending spree. Even if he eventually recovered his equilibrium, he would experience flashbacks and avoidance behaviors decades later. My co-authors and I saw this pattern of events so many times that we gave it a nickname—the "twenty-one-gun salute."
 |
Table of Contents | Other Trio Press Publications
|
|
|
|