I may be in the minority with my perspective. I was raised by parents who were wealthy and could have retired but continued to work hard to build up more assets and provide more opportunities for their children. Of course, I have "trust fund" friends who do not have any work ethic and will likely be bums their entire life. But their lack of character is less a result of money they knew they had and more a result of parents who did not take any active role in their lives. I saw this play out many times. All of my friends who had both trust funds AND active parents who cared about them, loved them, and took an interest in their lives, are all very happy, successful professionals. The philosophy I have now is that my money is mine of course, but held by me in trust to open up opportunities for my children, their children, and so on down the line. I think this is how families were oriented for many hundreds of years in history. And on a personal level, this helps me LBMM to a great extent, as it makes me a very long-term thinker. As I was raised in a wealthy environment (and I was way down close to the bottom of the totem pole), I saw that life is not really fair. Wealth and connections can matter much more than brains and hard work. While I will stress the value of hard work to my kids, I want to be able to provide them the opportunities that require wealth and connections as well. One study I believe showed that 80%+ of US Senators have come from wealthy families who were able to support them while they developed a career. If my kids grow up to be ethical, successful, hard working people, then what's the harm in being able to help them buy a house? Is it necessary to make them work 80 hours a week to "earn" a house that 30 years ago would have been easily affordable. I don't think so...
And who knows what the future will hold. My parents worked at fast food places when they were teens. Every fast food place within 10 miles of where I live now is staffed by illegal immigrants or welfare-to-workers. Just because they did it, they did not want to have me doing it. In order to secure housing, health care, education, and other staples for a family, I think you have to be able and willing to provide for them financially. It is not enabling or unhealthy to be able to want to provide these things for your family.
Of course, since my parents have done so much for me, there is no limit to what I would do for them. If I had to descend into poverty in order to take care of them then that is what would happen, and I think I can honestly say that I would feel no regret or resentment towards them for it. I anticipate that as they grow older and may be unable to live completely on their own, they may want to move in with me, or into a guest house close by, and I would happily welcome them, even if it was an inconvenience to me. Isn't that what life is about? I think I am fortunate to come from a very close knit, emotionally balanced and healthy family. I know that not everyone is this fortunate.
One of my favorite movie scenes is from the Godfather 2, when Michael Corleone and his father are talking in the garden: "I never wanted this for you. I work my whole life--I don't apologize--to take care of my family, and I refused to be a fool, dancing on the string held by all those bigshots. I don't apologize--that's my life--but I thought that, that when it was your time, that you would be the one to hold the string. Senator Corleone; Governor Corleone. [Michael: Another pezzonovante] Well, this wasn't enough time, Michael. It wasn't enough time. [Michael: We'll get there, pop. We'll get there.]" At least for me that's part of what it means to be a family, forward progress and what not...