What will be left of me: an inheritance is more than money

The question "what will be left of me" usually comes up late and only in legal terms — a will, shares, who gets the flat. That is the smallest part of it. The larger part of an inheritance is what no notary can record: habits, attitude to risk, and whether money was discussed at home or passed over in silence.

The short answer

• Money is only one of three layers of inheritance. The other two are habits and information.
• Children pick up their relationship with money long before their first pay cheque — from what they saw at home.
• The cheapest thing you can pass on is an overview: what is where, what is insured, what is owed.
• Not writing a will is also a decision — the law simply makes it for you.

Three layers of inheritance

• Assets — accounts, property, investments, pension savings. The layer most people treat as the only one.
• Habits — whether the family saves, whether it invests, whether debt is seen as a tool or as a threat. These transfer by imitation, not by lecture.
• Information — a list of accounts, policies, liabilities and access. Without it, survivors spend months working out what they inherited, and some of it they never find.

What gets inherited whether you like it or not

• Avoiding the topic. If money is never discussed at home, the child carries that silence into their own household.
• Attitude to risk. A family that once lost its savings stays cautious a generation later — even when there is no longer a reason.
• The relationship with debt. A child who only saw instalments and stress will link debt to threat. A child who saw a mortgage used as a tool will handle it differently.

What to do about it this month

• 1. Write a one-page overview: accounts, policies, liabilities, where the documents are and who has access. Update it once a year.
• 2. Tell your children about at least one concrete financial decision you made — including why, and what it cost you.
• 3. If you own something that does not divide easily (a flat, a business, a share), sort out the will while there is still time for a conversation, not when a deadline decides for you.

How it looks in the simulator

In the Ferrata simulator you play through a whole working life in a few dozen minutes and see at the end what was left behind. You can continue as the heir — starting with a share of your estate. No sign-up, free.