Dealing with Sudden Wealth Syndrome

Nima Abu Wardeh contemplates the effects of Sudden Wealth Syndrome, brought on by suddenly having or inheriting vast amounts of money.

Gary Clement for The National

A Facebook request last week took me by surprise: someone I knew as a very young child has taken to cycling through various countries to raise awareness around issues she's passionate about.
While it's to be applauded, it's not remarkable. Especially when you learn that she never needs to work a day in her life. In fact, she probably hasn't - not with the need to earn, at least.
But what she has done is significant because she got off her cushy lifestyle and is doing something she believes in, looking outside herself and taking on a purpose.
Her family always had wealth, and while she lived her formative years in a much-coveted location next to one of the biggest parks in central London, she didn't know or care how much her home and life cost.
I hope she was made aware of her and her family's good fortune while she was growing up, because it would most likely relieve her from dealing with SWS - Sudden Wealth Syndrome.
Yes. There is such a thing. Two Californian psychologists came up with it. They - Stephen Goldbart and Joan Di Furia - set up the Money, Meaning and Choices Institute in 1997 to explore the "psychological opportunities and emotional challenges of having and inheriting money".
And when you read that the world is due to experience the greatest wealth transfer in history, you can see they're on to a winner. It is said that US$16 trillion of the ultra-wealthy's riches are to be passed on to the next generation over the next three decades.
It might sound like the best thing ever - to discover you've inherited a big chunk of cash. But according to research, people who are taken by surprise can suffer all sorts of stress and anxiety. If you think about it, you can see how coming into a fortune can shift all sorts of relationships in life - relationships with your friends, colleagues and even with members of your own family.
And with yourself. Just think about it - never having to earn again. What would you do with the rest of your life? Some people start off euphoric, but become irritable, burdened and stressed. They do not know what to do with the money or whether friends are turning into gold-diggers, and they develop a deep fear of losing what they have.
One solution is to give it away. This is what Chuck Collins did. He is a senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies and the co-founder of Wealth for the Common Good. He is also the great-grandson of the packaged meat behemoth Oscar Mayer. Within five years of gaining an inherited fortune at age 21, he donated it all to charity. It amounted to about half a million dollars, which doesn't sound like a lot today - but this was in 1896, when it was the equivalent of about $14 million in today's dollars. The reason, he said, was that he didn't earn it and didn't feel a claim to it.
At least he had the freedom to choose what to do with it. I read that some heirs do not.
I know this won't be the case for one 12-year-old when he inherits - he's the only nephew of a friend who has no children. In fact, he's the only child in the family - and there will be no more. The entire family line on both sides comes down to him. This boy is set be a millionaire many times over when his family dies - my friend, the uncle, is amassing property in lieu of a pension fund and is leaving it all to the boy. The boy's grandmother is leaving him everything she has, as is a "God gran" - the grandmother's best friend who has no blood relations.
These are regular folk who worked for their money. He's seen them do this and understands how it came to be. But not coming from a monied background, I hope he's being prepared to deal with his future fortune.
There are others who don't know that they'll come into a lot of cash. I was quite shocked to discover that there are people in the UAE who take out life insurance policies that do just that - they pay out millions upon death. Not because that's what the family is accustomed to, rather because the main earner has decided that it's his way of securing his family's future without him, taking out insane premiums to guarantee a whopping payout.
However, sometimes children who inherit riches do not have the life skills to handle them.
These parents might be turning in their graves to know that many of them will blow it. A study by Ohio State University found that one-third of people who received an inheritance had negative savings within two years of receiving it.
A sudden inheritance might seem like the ultimate gift. But many see it and use it as fun money. It's a great opportunity only if handled with care. If not, it can be a greater burden.
Judging by the Facebook posts of my friend's child, she's got her head screwed on right. She's using her financial freedom to live a life of adventure and giving.
I wonder how much money she went through to get there.
Nima Abu Wardeh is the founder of the personal finance website cashy.me. You can reach her at [e-mail] and find her on Twitter at @nimaabuwardeh.
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