Wealth has a way of multiplying, though. Assuming the family is above a certain threshold of wealth, second sons still receive an education and typically get lucrative jobs, expensive gifts etc. that should set them up well.
It’s not an absolute. Trust-fund kiddies frequently have no idea how to keep that money growing. Bad investments, frivolous spending, out of control vices and addictions, lawsuits, bribing the law, continuing to cling to an extravagant lifestyle on inadequate funds, divorces, etc. It’s obviously not an absolute, but generally I think the more generations pass the more likely any one of them is gonna end up broke.
Any wealth inheritance has been divided amongst an unknown number of heirs for the last, what 5 generations? 7? That shit’s long gone.
Wealth has a way of multiplying, though. Assuming the family is above a certain threshold of wealth, second sons still receive an education and typically get lucrative jobs, expensive gifts etc. that should set them up well.
It’s not an absolute. Trust-fund kiddies frequently have no idea how to keep that money growing. Bad investments, frivolous spending, out of control vices and addictions, lawsuits, bribing the law, continuing to cling to an extravagant lifestyle on inadequate funds, divorces, etc. It’s obviously not an absolute, but generally I think the more generations pass the more likely any one of them is gonna end up broke.