The Three Ways 'Old Money' Holds on to Its Riches

While America claims to be a class-free society, the opposite often seems to be the case. Americans are obsessed with social status in all its forms whether based on celebrity, artistic or athletic accomplishment, or just plain money. Although royalty is not legal in America, our economic royalty including Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are as highly regarded as any English duke or earl.

When it comes to status, we don't look just at the size of one's bank account, we make distinctions based on the nexus of money and social standing. This leads to contrasts such as "old money" and "new money" with the former connoting generations of life on country estates and Ivy League credentials while the latter is something flashier. The Astor family have been wealthy for over 200 years and practically define old money in America.

Yet as one goes abroad, there is an even older kind of money, true dynastic wealth that has existed in some families for 300 years or longer. This type of wealth has survived not only business cycles but also war, invasion, the collapse of empires, revolution, and natural disaster. In order for family wealth to persist through so many centuries and through such adversity, something more is needed than ordinary investment skill. This rare kind of success in wealth preservation requires a longer view, infused with a sense of history and a keen appreciation for worst-case scenarios that too frequently become real. Read More