Many baby boomers don't plan to leave their kids an inheritance, feel they've given them enough

[Liberal_in_LA]

Many baby boomers don't plan to leave their children an inheritance
Unlike previous generations, some baby boomers believe they've already given their children enough, and they plan to spend the money they've saved on themselves.

Carol Willison has made lots of financial sacrifices for her two children over the years, including paying most of her older daughter's medical school tuition. But Willison's generosity has reached its limits.

Not only doesn't the 60-year-old Seattle woman plan to leave her daughters an inheritance when she dies, she's trying to spend every last dime on herself before she goes.

"My goal is when they carry me away in that box that my bank account is going to say zero," Willison said. "I'm going to spoil myself now."

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Many boomers already are giving the equivalent of an inheritance, except they're doling out the cash while they're still alive, said Ken Dychtwald, chief executive of research firm Age Wave.

They're supporting elderly parents, adult children or other family members who are suffering professional or financial woes.

"How can you say no when a child asks ask for a down payment for a house or money to remodel their house to have a bedroom for a second child?" Dychtwald said. "A lot of boomers are finding that family members are taking cash advances on those inheritances right now."

http://www.latimes.com/business/fi-la-boomer-inheritance-20110906,0,1467194.story

[TwilightGardener]

1. Never understood inheritance. Don't expect one, won't get one, probably won't leave one.

[Proud Public Servant]

2. I can't imagine leaving one

Not because I'm selfish, but because it's going to take every dime we've saved to support us in our dotage. And even that won't be enough if teh GOP gets its way,

[NeedleCast]

3. My Folks are Pretty Well Off But I'd Rather They Enjoy the Money

They gave my sister and I everything we needed growing up. She and I are now both successful adults. My dad earned his money and now that he is close to retirement I hope he and my mom stay healthy for another 30+ years and have time to spend every dime of it. They deserve it.

[dawg]

4. An inheritance is nothing that should be expected, but ...

I have no intention of "spoiling" myself rather than leaving something to my sons. Any surplus one has should be saved for a rainy day. Rainy days come, and if I'm fortunate enough to have something left over, I hope my sons will have enough sense to save the surplus for their rainy days as well.

This sense of, "I've got it, may as well spend it!" is alien to me.

[NNN0LHI]

5. I always felt the biggest gift I could give my kids was to never be dependent on them

And that has been my life plan.

Don

[liberal N proud]

6. Inheritance?

I am just hoping I don't leave my kids with a debt they have to pay off.

You have to have something to leave something!

[cali]

7. I'd love to be able to help my kid out more

Happily for him, his Grandfather left him some money- but it's tied up in a trust until he's 35.

[Blue_In_AK]

8. The kids will get whatever is left over,

but I'm planning to live another 28 years, so it might not be much.

[seabeyond]

9. all it is, is whatever is left over. i certainly want enough to pay my way until i die

how do i get it exact. i imagine or at least hope, there will be some left over and kids can split it up.

my dad plans on doing the same. but then he has a son that is using up not only his, but my brothers and my leftover. meh, way it works. bummer is, it will fall on our two shoulders to take care of father, if he is drained. he certainly didnt plan it that way.

i dont get the whole article.

[EC]

10. With the way my daughters old age is looking to be

if the repubs get their way, I'll be trying to save whatever I can to leave her. It really is beginning to look like the next generation of elderly will be left to their own defenses and with the jobs available, I know my daughter won't be able to save much. Those that want to spend it all and not leave anything to their kids are dooming their kids to a really bad old age.

[monmouth]

11. My kids kiddingly made dibs on certain pieces of furniture I have.. That's

all they want, they want me to travel...LOL..

[SoCalDem]

12. Whatever we leave to them will just have to be "enough"

We plan to try to live as frugally as we can (have lived that way up until now..why change it?) and if there's anything left, it's all theirs..

We have helped them all at various times in their lives.

Our youngest went to college in Italy, and that experience was waaay more valuable to him as a 19 yr old kid than something left to him when we die..

Our oldest got help from us for 2 years when he was in and out of dead end jobs..he;'s now married happily and has a mid-6 figure income..so does his wife..

Our middle cost us a shitload of money when he was a wannabee juvenile delinquent in hie teens, and we had bailed him out financially a few times since.. but he;s now a stable thirty-something with a fiancee

We also give stuff to them anytime they mention that they want it..

'Our daughter in law liked our hutch, so we packed all the stuff in it and sent it home with them :)

I don;t think we ever used any of those fancy dishes and antique crystal.. They entertain, and have gotten good usage from it..and we got some floor space:)

[LiberalFighter]

13. Children shouldn't expect an inheritance when their parents do that much for them.

Especially when it is a sacrifice for them to do it.

[StandingInLeftField]

14. LOL at leaving an inheritance.

I'll be lucky to die breaking even.

[vi5]

15. I tell my parents to do the same thing...

They are very well off. They've provided incredibly for my brother and I through paying for our education and any number of other things as we were growing up. And they have continued to do so now that we have our own families and are incredibly generous to our children (their grandchildren). And we've paid them back by staying close to where they live so they can know their grandchildren, by being careful with money ourselves, and by just living in the way that they have taught us to.

But the last thing we want or expect is an inheritance and I hope they have enough to have them continue to live the lifestyle they want for at least another 25 years. But they are very cautious. They've been payin for long-term care insurance since they were in their 40's because they wanted to make sure that they didn't burden us (not that they ever would be a burden) during their twilight years.

[GreenPartyVoter]

16. My parents were boomers and even during the hardest times my dad kept up his

life insurance and so forth. It's because of my parents and their saving and hard work that I was able to buy a home for my own kids. And yes, we have life insurance too, despite going through our own hard times. (When it was really hard my dad kept up the payments for us.) And yes, he (and his siblings) did their part to help my grandparents too.

I can't afford health insurance right now but I darn well can afford the life insurance, and will make sure my kids have something to inherit. My only prayer is that if I get sick or in an accident that I die right off instead of linger. I don't want to cost my family any more money than I have to.

[dixiegrrrrl]

17. Boomers better be nice to the kids they may have to move in with.

The way this economy is going, it is not a matter of "won't" but "can't" save anything for inheritance.

[SoCalDem]

20. It's more likely to be the other way around..

MANY of my friends have their kids & grandkids living with THEM :rofl:

[MADem]

23. Yep--the "extended" family....you get to keep 'em with you for an EXTENDED

period of time!

[no_hypocrisy]

18. Assuming they have the assets to even leave as an inheritance,

I'd be careful about dissing the people who will sign my commitment papers to a nursing home.

[durablend]

19. OK then riddle me this

They're not going to leave money when they die but ROIL against the notion of a "Death Tax" that'll never come within a mile of them?

:crazy:

[MADem]

21. Love the way the lead makes the boomers seem like shitheads

but deep in the story, we discover that they have been way more generous to their children/parents while they were alive.

Many boomers already are giving the equivalent of an inheritance, except they're doling out the cash while they're still alive, said Ken Dychtwald, chief executive of research firm Age Wave.

They're supporting elderly parents, adult children or other family members who are suffering professional or financial woes.



I don't like the tone of this article--to the casual reader, the BBs come off as selfish fucks. It's a retread of the "Don't trust anyone over 30" schtick, but the target here is people fifty and up. It was classless then and it is classless now--aside from being untrue.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

22. Other than passing down the family farm/business, I wonder how many "previous generations" left ...

...left an inheritance?
I'm wondering whether the very idea in America of the majority one generation being as a rule prosperous enough to leave the next generation an inheritance is a fairly recent phenomenon.

[MADem]

24. I have the same sense--none of my relatives ever left grand "inheritances"

Furniture, photographs, family items passed down over the years, maybe a savings/checking account, a small life insurance policy--usually by the time you finish paying for the funeral, divvying up the stuff, and settling outstanding bills, there's never been much if anything by way of an "inheritance" anywhere in my line. And that's been true for the past several generations, as well...

[JDPriestly]

42. Precisely.

Baby boomers have houses -- that have lost value in recent years.

They have retirement accounts (401Ks) which are not earning them any income as they go along.

The article is a ridiculous, one-sided slam.

The baby boomers I know have relatively small families, lavish their children with everything they can -- and once they retire and have the leisure to discover anew how much their children AND GRANDCHILDREN mean to them, those with the means will leave everything they can to their kids.

In some families, the children are doing extremely well for themselves and want to help their parents who are less prosperous.

Families are just as loving and intact as they ever were in my experience. I really can't think of any exceptions in my circle of friends.

[HockeyMom]

25. My older daughter was in bad shape

had back surgery, rent in arrears, phone turned off, disability ran out, let go from her job, etc. She called me up crying in the middle of the night from 1,000 miles away. She is also Bi-Polar and it was very bad time for her. We gave her some money, but we don't have much to begin with. Some years ago I gave her a ring of her Great-Grandma's; part of that "stash" she had hidden during the Great Depression. My daughter very desperate for cash, but she said until she was living on the streets, she would not sell that ring. "It WILL get better", she said sobbing. It did. I told her to check unclaimed funds (hunch?), and she found over $1,000 she was entitled to from a previous job. Then she got a call from somebody she used to work with a long time ago offering her a job. If things work out, he told her, we would like to consider you for a management position in the near future. While nobody can know what the future holds, short term things are looking up for my daughter.

Maybe Great-Grandma is looking down and smiling that her Great-Granddaughter didn't rush out and sell her ring? Who knows? Just thought people might like to hear a little GOOD news story about now.

[classof56]

27. Nice story! Thanks for posting.

Good news is indeed welcome these days!

[Liberal_in_LA]

30. glad things are looking up for her. n/t

[Yo_Mama]

40. I enjoyed it very much, and I'm so happy for her

As for Boomers and inheritances, my guess is that not many will have much left to leave. Retirements have been cut, many are working longer as it is, and it seems like the average person is having to tighten his or her belt.

Thanks for posting this - some days the news just gets grim.

[mnhtnbb]

26. On the other side of this is my boomer cousin who when asked by his 92 yo father

"what are you up to" answered, "waiting for you to die".

I kid you not. This was reported to me via my hubby, when visiting
with my uncle last July.

And yes, the only son, who has never done much of anything with his life,
inherits everything--worth several million.

If I were my uncle, I would have scheduled an appointment with my attorney
the same day and changed the will to leave everything to charity.

Can you imagine the nerve?

[tammywammy]

34. He should change his will and donate all his assets to charity.

What a mean thing to say to a parent.

[Xithras]

46. He should do what my grandfather did.

My grandfather had a major heart attack about 20 years ago, and the doctors said that his prognosis wasn't good. My mother and her siblings IMMEDIATELY started talking about raiding his house to find the will, and started fighting over who would get what (my grandfather owned a chain of California restaurants in the 1950's and 60's, sold them at a profit, and still had a couple million in assets at that point). That's when my uncle revealed that he'd already been named executor, had the will, and told them "He's already decided who's getting what, and I'm not going to violate his trust and tell you anything while he's still alive." His brothers and sisters were so mad they got into a screaming match right there in the hospital.

My grandfather survived that heart attack, and lived another 10 years. When he died, a letter was read explaining to them that he'd been so disappointed by their behavior during his first heart attack that he'd donated virtually all of his wealth to his church and a few other local charities. They were left only token amounts of money, along with a few photos and heirlooms. The only family member who was given any sizable amount of cash was my cousin, who had sat in his hospital room silently holding his hand while everyone else argued, and who at that point was a 26 year old widow with two babies (her husband was killed in a work accident three years into their marriage). He left her "any cash remaining in my savings accounts", which amounted to about $15,000 when he died.

[bvar22]

28. This is more than a little misleading.

In the 50s, 60s, and early 70s,
a Blue Collar Worker could:

*Raise a family in relative comfort with only one parent working

*Enjoy Job Security with benefits

*Buy and Pay Off a decent home

*Take a REAL vacation every year

*Buy a new American car every few years

*Provide quality health care for the entire family

*Send all the children to decent school, including the State University

*Save enough to retire in dignity & comfort

Up until the early 80s,
ANYBODY could attend the State University and graduate DEBT FREE if willing to work a Part Time job.
They could even afford to own & drive a beater.

That is not possible today.
though it could be if we had a Political Party that represented the Working Class,
like the BOOMER Parents had.

Up until the 80s, a Blue Collar Worker could actually BUILD & SAVE something in America through hard work.
NOW, they can't even survive, and it is getting worse.

This could "change" IF we had a Political party that represented the Working Class.
We don't.

The reason the BOOMERS won't be leaving much in NOT because they are greedy & self-absorbed.
It is because the RICH, with the help of their bought politicians of BOTH parties, have taken everything.


Cherish your memories, SUCKERS!
because we're TAKING everything else!
Hahahahahahaha!



Solidarity!



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[hunter]

37. This correct answer, not the spin.

The working class baby boomers (which is most baby boomers) won't be leaving their kids anything because the very wealthy got to it first.

[patrice]

29. We pretty much "leave" houses in our family. I'm trying to do the same.

I'm getting pretty close to succeeding in this too.

I just hope I don't get put in a position in which I have to decide whether to leave the house or die for lack of medical care.

[Warren DeMontague]

31. Many boomers seem to think the Universe sprang into existence when they did,

and when they die, the tent stakes will be pulled, the cardboard sky will be folded up, and the rest of us who merely functioned as props and audience members for their collective solipsistic psychodrama will give them a thunderous and rousing final ovation. :applause:


I'm just kidding, by the way. Sheesh, you guys take yourselves so seriously. ;-)

[StatGirl]

33. Most *people* probably think that way.

The idea that Boomers are different from any other generation is a false one, but there's a lot of media propaganda aimed at promoting intergenerational warfare. No one asked to be born into the generation that they got.

We're all in this together.

[Warren DeMontague]

35. That's why I made sure to point out that I was kidding.

Hell, you don't need to go to 'the media' to see intergenerational warfare; it happens all the time, here- in all directions. :shrug:

[Warren DeMontague]

32. I'm leaving my children my 1000+ hours of crispy Grateful Dead Soundboard recordings.

How's THAT for a Boomer inheritance?

[Liberal_in_LA]

39. omg. n/t

[Morning Dew]

44. lol - I don't have kids so I'll have to leave mine to charity.

[MilesColtrane]

36. I believe this book was a bestseller several years ago.

http://moneyover55.about.com/od/bookreviews/a/diebroke.htm

It seems that many are taking the author's advice to heart.

[JDPriestly]

38. Everybody is hurting -- the boomers and their children.

Most boomers are worried about not being a burden to their kids and helping when it matters.

Boomers tended to invest a lot in their houses -- and guess what.

So, I would take these numbers with a grain of salt.

Been polled about things a number of times.

The pollsters usually ask questions that are aimed to elicit only a very narrow range of answers.

More complex responses are difficult to categorize in poll results.

So many baby boomers are just worried about losing their houses and their pension funds right now. And on top of that are trying to help their children.

This article, like most of the stuff you get from the LA Times has a political bent toward the right.

It's mean and nasty and should be ignored.

This refers to a "survey of boomers . . . by investment firms." It doesn't say anything about who was surveyed.

The article is pretty worthless -- just anecdotal. Most baby boomers think they have more money than they do. Wait until they really retire and discover that big problems -- medical costs for things their Medicare does not cover -- like teeth, eyes, ears ----- and all the rest. Wait until they discover how little they will actually get from social Security and interest on their "investments" and savings.

This article is a nasty piece just meant to justify cutting Social Security.

This is why I do not subscribe to the LA Times.

They never have a kind word for public education or for any other liberal idea.

[Liberal_in_LA]

41. I'm sorry you doubt the motives of the LA times. Our other LA area paper is more right wing

[JDPriestly]

47. True. I don't read either of them.

Cannot stand them.
I get my news from DU and other internet sites.

The newspapers cater to their advertisers far too much -- and advertisers who can pay enough money to keep a newspaper afloat are very rich and very greedy.

Had enough of those guys.

[Yo_Mama]

43. Yeah, and it's not just the houses.

The stock market isn't exactly loving up on people trying to build retirement funds.

I, personally, am in awe of just how much money many Boomer parents have spent on their kids' college educations alone. It seems fashionable to describe Boomers as selfish, but I don't see that as being particularly true.

[mmonk]

45. This baby boomer is always consumed with what I will leave my children.

Current economics and politics has chiseled away at it.

[Darth_Kitten]

48. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but I wouldn't ask my parents for a down payment on anything.

:)