Assuming that you will receive a significantly greater inheritance and that it will set you on the right track money-wise is a huge misconception made by people around the world. Specifically, in the UK, the average adult is hoping to inherit around £147,000, but they will actually inherit around £119,000 and expend £21,000 of it. At a time when family money and expectation brings turbulent times, more than 40% of UK adults have already mentally spent their inheritance. Further, younger generations stand to inherit more than their predecessors, and those in the top 20% of wealth will inherit four times more than the bottom 20%. The younger generation’s inheritance will also depend more on who their parents are, but they will find it harder to accumulate wealth of their own due to the sharp fall in homeownership.
See Kate Hughes, The Truth About Your Inheritance, Independent, January 25, 2017.
Special thanks to Joel Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.
