How to Decide What to Leave Behind
3 min read
This is an edition of The Wonder Reader, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a set of stories to spark your curiosity and fill you with delight. Sign up here to get it every Saturday morning.
In pop culture, questions of inheritance take on dramatic, often nasty proportions. Watching Succession, you’d be forgiven for thinking that in all wealthy families, the specter of death elicits insults, infighting, and betrayal. For some families—even those without the wealth that the Roys are arguing over—that may well be true. But for others, deciding what to leave behind is a way to take inventory of a life well lived. It can also be an opportunity to codify our connections with the ones we love, whether or not they fall under the traditional definition of family.
What to Leave Behind
How Much Inheritance Is Too Much?
By Joe Pinsker
Some wealthy parents are concerned that after a certain point, money passed down will be damaging to the next generation.
Read the article.
The Problem With Wills
By Michael Waters
A striking proportion of Americans doesn’t have one. Nontraditional families are left uniquely vulnerable.
Read the article.
Lessons From Succession for Non-billionaire Families
By Chris Ip
For one business professor, the show is a cautionary tale.
Read the article.
Still Curious?
- “Why I hope to die at 75”: In 2015, Ezekiel Emanuel argued that society and families—and you—will be better off if nature takes its course swiftly and promptly.
- A neuroscientist prepares for death: “Lessons my terminal cancer has taught me about my mind”
Other Diversions
- Animal behavior’s biggest taboo is softening.
- You’re not perfect. And that’s great news.
- Against the travel neck pillow (from 2017)
P.S.
I recently asked readers to share a photo of something that sparks their sense of awe in the world. Maia F., age 71, writes: “I had just moved into my condo in Rhinebeck, New York, three days before I took this photo. I had been hunkered down and in feverish unpacking mode in the midst of a ferocious thunderstorm. The storm finally cleared and I couldn’t believe my eyes when I looked up and this was going on right outside my new home. It felt like a “welcome home” sign, my calm after the storm.”
I’ll continue to share your responses in the coming weeks. If you’d like to share, reply to this email with a photo and a short description so we can share your wonder with fellow readers in a future edition of this newsletter or on our website. Please include your name (initials are okay), age, and location. By doing so, you agree that The Atlantic has permission to publish your photo and publicly attribute the response to you, including your first name and last initial, age, and/or location that you share with your submission.
— Isabel
