A Third Of Americans Squander Their Inheritance

A researcher at Ohio State University has found in a 2012 study that a majority of Americans save only about a half of their inheritance and then manage to spend the rest of it.  The study found that a third of Americans end up spending through all of their inheritance.  By the year 2022 over $4 trillion in wealth is expected to be transferred from one generation to the next, which means that more than $2 trillion will end up being circulated through the economy.  The wealth transfers that will take place over the course of the next few decades is going to have a major impact on estate planning issues.  It is important for people to plan ahead for these fundamental economic changes that will likely take place. 

See Paul Ausick, A Third Of Americans Blow Through Their Inheritance, 24/7 Wall Street, November 8, 2015.