The lessons learned through bootstrapping are important not only to entrepreneurs and their workforces, but to their children as well. Whether your kids will one day run the family business or you simply wish to pass on the values and work ethics that helped you succeed in starting and owning a business, devoting time to coaching your children can feel like its own challenge. Steve Lopez, Wealth Management Advisor at Merrill Lynch, shares how a business owner’s values can be passed on to the next generation.

We’ve heard about high-profile millionaires and billionaires announcing they will not be leaving their fortunes to their children. Is it a matter of time before this becomes a mainstream trend?

It’s unclear how this trend will play out but we know with confidence that parents want their children to be better off—and they don’t define “better off” in purely financial terms. According to a recent Merrill Lynch survey, the no. 1 answer to the question, “What’s most important to pass on to the next generation?” for people over 45 was “values and life lessons.” The answer “financial assets or real estate” came in last. In between were “instructions and wishes to be fulfilled” and “personal possessions of emotional value.”