Not everyone gets an inheritance. However, many people expect their parents to leave them something. What is perhaps most concerning is that more children expect an inheritance than the number of parents who expect to give them one.
In one study, millennials were asked if they thought their parents would have an inheritance to leave them. The majority — 68 percent — said that they did. However, when their parents were asked if they expected to leave behind financial assets for those children, a mere 40 percent said they did. The majority of parents will not leave an inheritance to children who probably expect to get one.
That could leave a lot of young people with a troubled financial future. It seems like many of them are planning on getting an inheritance and using it to retire early. “Millennials say they plan to quit working at age 59, on average, a full six years earlier than Baby Boomers, who expect to retire at age 65,” the report claimed.
Now, you could argue that their plans are unrealistic on many levels. Can the economy support this early retirement? Will they earn enough money, fast enough, to retire before their parents? How would doing so impact their own estate plans?
However, it appears that many of them may plan to use money that they are never going to inherit to fund this early retirement, and they’re in for a bit of a shock when the time rolls around.
If you want to temper your children’s expectations, it is important not just to look into your estate planning options, but to sit down and talk with them about the plan you make.