At first, they sound noble. When asked about their financial worries in a recent U.S. Trust Survey of Affluent Americans, respondents ranked “kids will have it tougher financially” above all the things that could affect their own situations. Things such as “terrorism will hurt economy” and “stock market gains will be lower.”

And when it comes to sociology, they’re quite confident. According to the survey, our richest citizens have little concern about the possible harmful effects of a large inheritance on their family.

Only 29 percent of the survey respondents are concerned that a large inheritance will undermine their children’s initiative. Just 22 percent worry that their children will squander their inheritance, and 18 percent are afraid that the family will fight over their possessions.

They have it all backwards.

Why should they worry about their children being less wealthy than they are? The survey respondents represent the top 1 percent of America’s affluent; each has either an annual adjusted gross income of $300,000 or a net worth greater than $5.9 million.

To be less wealthy than that is not a tragedy. Of course parents want their children to succeed, live comfortably and be happy. But when you start measuring down from the top 1 percent, you have to drop through a lot of percentage points to get to the misery level.

One would think that a fair number of America’s most affluent have made it on their own, value the experience and wouldn’t mind seeing what their kids can do without too much help.

Even more surprising than the worrying is the optimism. Those surveyed plan to leave a lot of money behind (47 percent said there should be no federal estate tax on it), but most don’t expect any problems to result.

They haven’t been paying attention.

Sure, you can find examples of families that have done just fine, passing down the largesse from one generation to the next. But there are certainly plenty of exceptions. At the very least, it wouldn’t hurt to hold a few family meetings before it’s too late.