Isn't it alarming to you that you are optimising for what you leave behind when you die (stocks) over what you can have while you live (vacations)?
If your kids appreciate your money more than your time is when you know you screwed up.
he should spend every penny he’s got to spend every minute he can with his kids - especially while they are young. and his kids will say the same.
not noble at all - naive, dangerous and downright stupid thinking
Not if you do the slightest bit of planning.
If you will have under $7M in your estate, the slightest is literally nothing. You will not owe a penny of federal estate tax.
If you have over $7M in your estate, it's worth consulting an estate planner, but the basics look like gifting and establishing trusts while you are alive (and ideally while the exclusion amounts are high).
The current exclusion is $13.61M per person, or 2x that per couple and set to drop down to $5.6M in 2017 dollars on January 1, 2026.
If there's a chance that you'll have over $7M and die in 2026, the slightest is gift some of it now [directly and/or via trusts or 529 plans] while the estate tax exclusion is still $13.61M and file form 709.