Thursday, April 19, 2018

WHAT I'VE LEARNED ABOUT GENERATIONAL WEALTH FROM AGATHA CHRISTIE

I never read Agatha Christie's books when I was young, but I happened across a collection of them at a thrift store last year and received another stack of her books for Christmas, so I've been enjoying reading many of her books and short stories since then.  While the books themselves are wonderfully well written and give a glimpse of the British lifestyle of her era, I noticed a recurring theme about the way the gentry viewed wealth and investing.  They didn't look at their investments as something to be sold to provide for them in their old age, rather they were viewed as a source of income.  In other words, they lived off the income their investments produced and passed the investments on to their heirs when they died.  Thus perpetuating generational wealth.  

That is the way I view dividend investing.  I have no intention of selling my investments when I retire and living off the proceeds.  I intend to live off the income they produce, or a portion of the income and leave the rest to my heirs, so the next generation benefits from all my hard work.  Think of what it could mean to a country's economy if all their citizens did the same.  In the book, "The Richest Man in Babylon", the king wanted the man with the most wealth to teach others how to create wealth in order to make his kingdom one of the richest in the world.  Imagine how much better off the world would be if everyone were taught the importance of saving and investing rather than becoming wage slaves, living paycheck to paycheck and dying broke.

Don't want to stray too far from the point.  I just found it fascinating that there was a time and place where people thought more about generational wealth.  While I hope to be around many more years, I'm excited about the prospect of leaving a meaningful inheritance to my family.  

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