[https://www.diw.de/de/diw_01.c.831664.de](https://www.diw.de/de/diw_01.c.831664.de)
It is a proposal made by the German economic research institute in the form of granting a basic inheritance of 20 thousand euros to everyone who turns 18 years old in order to distribute legacies more equitably and reduce wealth inequality, as well as to cover it from inheritance and asset taxes. in addition, the opinion prevails that the money should be given not in cash, but as support for education, the purchase of housing or the creation of a business.
What do you think guys?
3 comments
First my take on inheritance: Inheriting something is not an achievement.
You did literally not do anything for what you inherit.
Like you did nothing to be born into the family you were born into, and which either could hand you great chances or great troubles, money or debt, working social networks or a drug addict mother and a father in jail.
So the whole concept of handing over large amounts of wealth from one generation to the next is detrimental to innovation and social mobility, because it perpetuates inequality and stops the best from coming to the top. The top is occupied not by those who necessarily are the best, but by those who have been born there, regardless of their skills.
Handing out money to all/those who don’t inherit money has it’s charme and might all be a nice start, but I think it’s just to avoid making (us) rich people upset.
Tax the rich, tax inheritance way more than currently the case and then, yes, hand a lump sum of money to help people start their life as a life of choices, not driven by necessities an the fear of not being able to make it to the end of the month.
Edit typo
>as support for education, the purchase of housing or the creation of a business
You make it sound as if it is a 20K Euro sum to be spent among those three items as a person chooses. I think it’s better to provide support for each category, independently, based upon merit and needs.
What about the person who isn’t qualified to go to school, doesn’t need to buy a house and doesn’t want to start a business? What if they really need a new car or could really benefit from plastic surgery?
A grant of up to 20K€ for an 18yo sounds like a good idea.
Thinking of less fortunate families with kids, especially the ones with proclivities of scientific/athletic nature. This could help them avoid being pushed into workforce, just because their family needs more income.
Although, knowing German bureaucratic apparatus, managing those grants would come with an additional 5K€ management cost lol