I must admit that the question of inheritance doesn't take up much of my time - I expect to have enough accumulated to fund my own retirement, and there's a good chance my parents will still be around when I retire - I have a Great Aunt still alive in her 90s, and two of my Grandparents lived to 94. So if I ever inherit anything I'll probably be too old to enjoy it anyhow.
However, for a lot a Baby Boomers who have been "living in the moment" and are only now starting to get concerned about where the money will come from in their retirement, the possibility of an inheritance bailing them out may have been in the back of their mind.
I had read that this hope was misplaced, with the current crop of retirees planning to spend their money, and possibly use a reverse-mortgage to spend the family home as well. So they'd bit little left for the Baby Boomer's to inherit.
But a new Citibank report contradicts this belief. Apparently most retirees are living within their means and around 85% plan on leaving a bequest to their children.
The average amount expected is $427,000, but some are planning on leaving a lot more:
Expected size Proportion of
of Estate Retirees
$900,000 15%
wealth, retirement
Will Uncle Fred Leave me a Fortune?
December 2nd, 2006 at 02:02 pm
December 3rd, 2006 at 01:43 am 1165110226
December 3rd, 2006 at 04:32 am 1165120339