The golden spoon: Prosperity risks for the next generation - and how smart structure can help
When the next generation grows up with great wealth, opportunities arise alongside risks. Those who experience few boundaries can more easily lose drive, perseverance, and a sense of reality. This can lead to internal pressure, insecurity, and conflicts – in the family as well as in the business. This article highlights the most important areas of tension and explains how thoughtful asset structuring creates stability and promotes a sense of responsibility.
Psychological Risks in Wealth Environments
Empirical studies from psychology and sociology show elevated rates of anxiety, depressive symptoms, and risky consumption behavior among adolescents from very affluent households. Key drivers include high performance pressure and a lower reliable presence of parents in everyday life. Often, a fragile motivation emerges: goals are quickly abandoned, setbacks are processed poorly, and frustration tolerance decreases. These patterns can persist into adulthood if there is no framework that demands effort, responsibility, and consequences.
Values, Behavior, and Social Integration
Values research links a strong focus on possessions and status with lower life satisfaction, more comparison pressure, and internal conflicts. In environments with pronounced inequality, studies also show that members of higher income classes may tend to make questionable decisions in certain situations. Thus, investigations in such contexts indicate that individuals from higher income or status groups are more willing in specific situations to bend rules if it benefits them.
This is not a moral thesis, but a sober observation: Wealth stabilizes when it is tied to goals, duties, and verifiable results. Without this framework, wealth does not enhance performance but creates a comfort zone without guardrails, leading to a loss of orientation.
Family Businesses: Succession with Measure and Suitability
Tensions become particularly visible in entrepreneurial families. If leadership is simply inherited, profitability and valuation often suffer; research on successions shows clear correlations here. Succession works better when qualification and suitability are decisive, when entry rules apply – such as education outside the family business, years of practical experience, clear target agreements – and when performance is independently monitored. This preserves loyalty without sacrificing professionalism. The connection between family culture and measurable responsibility strengthens both the stability of the company and family peace.
Foundations: Order, Protection, and Cohesion
A Liechtenstein foundation is a proven instrument to translate wealth into reliable rules. Legally, the assets are separated from private property; they belong to the foundation and are dedicated to a defined purpose. In practice, this means: There are clear guidelines on what revenues are used for, when distributions occur, and how risks are managed. An independent body manages the foundation, reviews decisions, and ensures they serve the purpose defined by the founder. This creates a system of rules that sets limits on short-term desires and protects long-term goals.
A particular advantage lies in controlling incentives. Allocations can be tied to education, engagement, professional achievements, or charitable activities. The next generation is gradually involved, receives areas of responsibility, but no uncontrolled access. This promotes self-efficacy and prevents passivity. Participations in the family business can also be structured so that influence is linked to qualification – not solely to birth.
Avoid Fragmentation, Secure Substance
A core benefit of the foundation is the bundling of substance. Assets – such as company shares, real estate, or securities – remain in one hand and are not split with every inheritance division. Instead of distributing individual asset pieces, the foundation regulates usage rights and predictable distributions. This prevents inheritance processes, divorces, or short-term liquidity needs from dismantling the substance, diluting majorities, or forcing the sale of key values. The unity of the assets is preserved, while the family shares in the benefits. This increases the capacity to act – in calm times as well as in crises.
The bundling also creates negotiating power. Those who hold significant participations together can make strategic decisions – such as investments, sales, or refinancing – from a position of strength. At the same time, liability remains more calculable because risks are structurally assigned. Thus, the assets are not only preserved but actively managed.
Governance, Transparency, and Plannability
The foundation becomes effective when governance and communication are right. This includes clear objectives, simple rules for distributions, understandable reports, and periodic reviews. Internal transparency reduces mistrust, which can lead to hidden conflicts in affluent families. Good governance ensures that decisions are traceable, roles do not blur, and conflicts are resolved early. Plannability arises when revenues are fixedly allocated for education, health, provision, and charitable purposes, while reserves exist for crises.
Scientifically Supported Guidelines for Practice
Robust guidelines can be derived from research: First, real demands and consistent feedback promote performance and psychological stability. Second, clear rules and fair procedures reduce the likelihood of disappointments and escalations. Third, the separation between substance and usage strengthens longevity – assets remain preserved, the family benefits through calculated revenues. Fourth, the combination of bonding and autonomy works best: belonging to the family on one side, verifiable responsibility on the other.
The Role of FS+P
FS+P AG, based in Liechtenstein, operates at this intersection of family, business, and structure. The firm combines trust and management services with tax consulting and supports families in clarifying goals, selecting the appropriate structure, and making it viable in everyday life. The advantage lies in linking strategy, law, organization, and numbers: Statutes and regulations are designed to be understandable, distribution logics fit life stages, and reports provide orientation. This creates solutions that protect assets, preserve room for action, and empower the next generation for competent action – without fragmenting the substance.
Conclusion
Wealth is not the problem – lack of structure is. Those who establish clear rules, comprehensible incentives, and reliable control transform abundance into orientation. The Liechtenstein foundation provides a solid foundation for this: It protects assets, bundles the substance, makes goals binding, and strengthens the family's capacity to act – across generations.
The earlier asset structuring is addressed, the greater its benefit. Early order keeps legal and organizational design options open, reduces implementation risks, and creates plannability. In many cases, significant additional advantages can be achieved – such as tax relief and more efficient estate settlement across multiple jurisdictions. Above all, however, structuring is a protective measure for one's own children and for family harmony: Clear rules prevent conflicts, bundle the substance, and preserve capacity to act. This responsibility should not and must not be postponed.