The odds aren't in your favor passing down piles of money, especially without a very, very intentional and deliberate grooming process for those who will receive it and a commitment to do the same, along with legal provisions and protections around how it is to be administered.

I think the key thing to understand is that money is simply an amplifier - it will make you more of what you already are. It in and of itself won't ruin you. What ruins you is if you're deprived of the refining and learning process that one must go through to achieve success. Once you've reached that maturity, the chances are reasonably high that you could then stand to inherit wealth and not misuse it.

Think of how difficult it is to pass down traditions, continue religious faith, etc for more than one generation. Very hit or miss.

Personally, I don't like the odds and will be leaving my nest eggs to charities. I think my children will be far better served in preparing them to make their own way successfully and teaching them how to do so so they can skip all the trial and error process and reach the same outcomes faster than I did.

What I do leave for them will be conditionally distributed at key life milestones and accomplishments. In other words, they have to have demonstrated they can already win on their own, and then they get the bonus on top, rather than an up-front inheritance that absolves them from having to play the game in the first place, never learning how to win or what losing feels like.