Bryan asks,

we’re a lot less focused on inheritance than we used to be. Why would that be?

The Kurzweilian answer is that rapid technological change has made inheritance–apart from “inherited” human capital–less valuable. Which would be more valuable to Bryan’s children–all his physical possessions, all his financial assets, or a large investment in their human capital?

Probably 90 percent of his physical possessions will be obsolete by the time his children reach 21. Even Bryan’s financial assets probably would not make his children feel particularly wealthy compared with what their human capital will be able to earn in the advanced economy of tomorrow.

I am so confident that the next generation is going to be wealthy by today’s standards that I am known for saying that all I ask of my children is that they survive the teenage years without getting seriously injured, pregnant, or addicted to drugs. Beyond that, I am pretty sure that things will take care of themselves.