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Here's the situation with my aunt who's in her mid 80's.
She lives in a house (condo) she inherited from her sister. She has a very small, limited income. She took out a reverse mortgage to supplement her income, and in a few years the equity in the place will be gone. Her health continues to decline, and in a few years she will have to go to a nursing home. She has a will, but anything she might have will be consummed by the cost of the nursing home (room and board) until she reaches a minimum and becomes eligible for medicaid.
Who knows what will happen in the future to any of us or our assets. It's best to raise children to expect nothing but the fruit of their own efforts after leaving home. I told my in-laws to spend their money.
From where I'm sitting there are a lot more important things to leave your kids with including good values, financial literacy, and how to get along in the world. I got a good dose of that from my parents and a little bit of money that's keeping me off the street, literally, after my divorce to supplement my social security.
My parents were given a house when they married but it went with a big lessons in financial literacy and personal responsibility.
On the other hand I see the bf who was only marginally successful in life, if that, who holds a great deal of money he inherited over the heads of his two extremely unsuccessful kids. They know they can slide right through to retirement without lifting a finger in effort or having a real life or any responsibilities. Meanwhile the bf who hasn't lost the money (to his credit) lives an extremely penny pinching life. The worst part is these kids have not the slightist idea how to handle money and illogically assume they can spend it all and at the same time will never have to work as it will always be there. It's a real pity to see.
Listened to the OP being discussed on air today. Had me wondering how many of the young think of their parents retirement accounts as being theirs one day and not as a parental resource yo be consumed in retirement
We only have one daughter and anything left will be hers. She has an excellent well paying job with BS and MEng degrees that will do her well in the future. She has told us many times that she is not expecting anything and is concerned that we will have enough especially if one or both of us has to go into assisted living or something. If everything goes well she will at least get the house and contents, but she has no concerns at all about it. She keeps telling us that we should enjoy ourselves and as long as there is enough to bury us, she will be happy. She even says that if/when she gets married she doesn't want us paying for any of the wedding as she only wants a very small one.
I could care less about an inheritance but I have never been money motivated and it certainly does not control me or how I live my life. I have what I need when I need it and I don't care if my Mother leaves me anything or not. I just hope I don't find out for a long time if she did.
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