The Changing Expectations of Heirs

As I have previously discussed, it is less likely that current generations of children will receive an inheritance from their parents. The news is starting to settle with these children, and it has affected their economic outlook. Their point of view has shifted from whether their parents will leave a large inheritance for them to whether their parents will have a sufficient amount of money to support themselves through the end of their life. Some members of the baby boomers generation have already come to this reality. However, there are others that are just starting to learn that this is becoming the new reality.

The reason that the older generation will not be able to provide an inheritance is that the older generations are living longer and spending more money on health care. The older generations never thought that they would live long or pay this much for health care; therefore, the older generation was not prepared to handle this situation. That is why they do not have the finances that are necessary to support themselves. What makes this problem worse is that this is difficult topic to discuss for both parents and children.

See Bill Ward, Don’t Take Inheritance For Granted, Star Tribune, July 14, 2012.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.)) for bringing this article to my attention.