Wealth Needs to Be Passed Down, but Inheriting the Wealth Behind It Is Not Enough; We Must Also Pass Down the Wisdom of Life Behind the Wealth.

Here’s a story I came across.

One Friday evening, my son was so excited he could barely contain himself. “Mom,” he said, “I have a good friend from middle school. His dad’s company is about to make an acquisition—buying an Australian cloud services firm. Their stock is going to jump 50%, maybe even more. I’ll buy in now and follow my friend’s signal to sell later. I’m going to make a killing.”

After he finished, I replied, “Your friend definitely wants you to profit, but many things can go beyond his expectations. I’m not even talking about his dad—if it were the company’s own boss, sometimes they can’t control the outcome either. If it were me, I wouldn’t buy that stock.”

He got worked up and asked, “Why?”

I said, “This company is buying a cloud services firm—completely unrelated businesses. If it’s just being used to pump the stock price, then I think their motives are questionable. Even if the price gets driven up, it’ll eventually fall back down.”

He shot back, “Who cares what happens in the end? As long as it goes up, I can make money!”

I said, “That’s certainly possible. But there are parts you can’t control—like the target company refusing to sell, or regulators failing to approve the deal. Not everything is in your hands. I don’t want to profit from trading; I want to profit from company value. I stick to my principles.”

We argued back and forth into the evening. Finally, I said, “My advice is for your consideration. If you really decide to do it, you’ll bear the consequences yourself. But here’s one suggestion: risk no more than 30% of your capital. If you lose it, you’ll still have a chance to recover.”

I could feel he was torn. He wanted to convince me, but more importantly, he wanted to convince himself. After all these years under my influence, he didn’t know whether to go against the values he’d always held.

Luckily, the markets were closed over the weekend, giving him two full days to think.

On Monday, the stock果然 rose 10%.

I figured my son must have felt even more convinced, but I didn’t press him. I’ve been investing long enough to know that without having suffered losses and bled a little, real lessons don’t stick.

I didn’t ask him on Monday. But on Tuesday evening, over dinner, he told me, “Mom, I gave it up.”

The stock was still climbing that day. I was surprised and asked, “You didn’t buy yesterday?” He said, “Mom, I thought it over carefully, and you were right. If this isn’t a good company, I have no idea when trouble will hit. Even if I made money on this trade, that kind of profit can’t be replicated in future investments. I haven’t built any real skill—just got lucky. And I’d have to worry all day long, unable to sleep at night.”

Hearing him say that made me want to cry. I told him, “Son, I’m so proud—not just because of one stock, but because of your whole value system. You’ll face all kinds of choices in the future, not just about stocks, but about your career, marriage, and family. The fact that you’re looking beyond the short term, avoiding shortcuts, and focusing on value investing and building your own competence—that makes me truly欣慰.”

The stock continued its climb, and the temptation for investors was enormous. Choosing to walk away under such circumstances was even more remarkable.

In the end, just as I expected, the stock fell back down.

Wealth needs to be passed down, but passing on wealth alone isn’t enough. You also have to pass on the wisdom behind it.