“One of the Rothschilds is said to have observed that if he could be sure of transmitting [or passing on to the next generation] a quarter of his capital, he would settle for that,” John Train writes in Dance of the Money Bees. “Alas, he probably didn’t make it.”

The Rothschild in question well knew how hard it is to preserve wealth. History is full of tales of fortunes lost. And if you needed reminders, there are memorials to lost fortunes everywhere. “There are so many great families whose former grandeur survives only as an echo, in the names of museums, converted mansions, streets and towns,” Train continues. “Their descendents don’t have it anymore. Taxes, inflation, expropriation and rising costs have pulled them down.”