Baby Boomers Should Plan For More Than an Inheritance
A word of caution to baby boomers whose basic retirement plan is to inherit. Although the boomer generation, as a whole, will inherit an unprecedented amount of money, no single son or daughter can count on getting everything owned by mom and dad.</br></br>People 65 and up are holding some $5.2 trillion in wealth, says Robert Avery, professor of consumer economics at Cornell University. That number would be even higher if retirement plans were fully counted.</br></br>Thirty years ago, perhaps 15 percent of Americans were able to leave estates worth $50,000 or more in today's dollars. Now, it's 25 percent to 30 percent, Avery says. A much larger number will be bequeathing modest sums.</br></br>But there's many a slip twixt lip and cup. Your widowed dad might marry a younger woman and leave her the property. (And why not? It's his money.) Or he might live to age 99 in a nursing home, paring down your inheritance by $35,000 a year (you hate to count, but everyone does). Your ailing mom may favor a devoted nurse's aide, or grow financially close to her minister.</br></br>Economic and social trends also are working against inheritance. Your father might be nudged into early retirement, which will force him to use up his money faster. Your mother might take out a reverse mortgage, which pays her a monthly income out of the equity in her home.