More than half of ultra-rich Americans have not revealed their full wealth to their children, a new survey showed Tuesday.

Taking the pulse nationwide of the rich with $3 million or more in assets a survey by US Trust released by Bank of America found that "surprisingly few of those surveyed have well-developed plans to preserve and pass on their assets to either their children or charity."

Many of the 457 people surveyed are Baby Boomers and are self-made, first-generation rich and have "a distinct generational mindset."

Fifty-two percent of parents surveyed have not fully disclosed their wealth to their children, and 15 percent have disclosed nothing about the family wealth.

One in three parents said they had never thought to do it, while 24 percent said they feared their children would become lazy.

Twenty percent said they would make poor decisions or squander money, and 13 percent worried other people would take advantage of their children.

Only 34 percent strongly agreed that their children will be able to handle any inheritance they plan to leave them.

"There is an expectation about the wealthy that they have an implicit, sacred responsibility to pass down their fortune to the next generation, and this understanding has shaped expectations about the coming wave of intergenerational wealth transfer," said Sallie Krawcheck, president of Bank of America Global Wealth and Investment Management.

"Our research, however, uncovered a distinct generational mindset that reflects changing views about what retirement means and an evolving sense of what one generation owes the next."

(Read by Lee Hannon. Lee Hannon is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)