Should Stanley Ho and Yu Pengnian, Hong Kong Billionaires, Leave the Children Out of Their Will and Estate?

If you are like Hong Kong billionaires Stanley Ho and Yu Pengnian, you are considering whether or not to give your children an estate. Interestingly, in two separate New York Times interviews, both men said that they would NOT leave their children an estate. Yu Pengnian told the New York Times Wealth Blog in June 2010 that he felt that if you raised good kids, they don't need your money. Now fellow Hong Kong businessman Stanley Ho is saying the same thing about wills and estates.

What Is A Will Or Estate And How Is That The Same In The US and Hong Kong?

Like Stanley Ho and Yu Pengnian, if you have enough money, or even if you don't, you know that there is a possibility you will need to get your estate in order. When you pass away, it will need to be determined who inherits your property or estate.

If you have a significant amount of money saved, you might want to make a trust fund for your children. It doesn't matter what country you are in. Most international businessmen and billionaires make sure their documents are legal in every country they have estate members. It goes beyond what middle class people use for their estate planning.

What Stanley Ho and Yu Pengnian Will Do With Their Estate And Will

For many people, it is difficult to figure out what the ideal age is for a trust fund. For other rich people, there's no question in their minds that the children will get nothing. They simply grant whatever is left over at the end of their lifetime to a charitable organization instead of their own families. This is why Stanley Ho's family in Hong Kong is currently enraged about. They don't want Stanley Ho and Yu Pengnian to follow this trend of not giving the estate to family members.

Why Stanley Ho and Yu Pengnian Are Giving Hong Kong Charities Their Money Instead Of The Kids

Yu Pengnian stated in his New York Times interview that leaving children at a large amount of money could cause them harm. In other words, if you grew up wealthy, you were probably spoiled, and people raised in those circumstances can get sucked in because they never had to work hard for a living and get a real job.

According to this billionaire, being competent and a self-made success are important for any person. If you are rich and constantly picked up after, you never learn this kind of happiness. As for the rest of the world, typically children inherit the businesses from their families.

Resources:

Stanley Ho, New York Times
Yu Pengnian, New York Times