We are spending plenty on ourselves. My in-laws have been generous and taken us on great travel adventures, I’m hoping to do the same.
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Inheritances by Age and Income Group — Penn Wharton Budget Model indicates that only 7.4% of people receive an inheritance. That suggests that people considering leaving an estate, or who are in a position where leaving an estate is likely, are outliers compared to the general population.
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As you well know, we are all outliers on this forum 
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We think we have plenty. We only have one child and we ae generous with her now. Hopefully, we will also be leaving her something. My in-laws left us something, my father will be leaving us nothing (he is completely broke).
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Yes. I need to finish up the trust (keep putting it off) & leave assets for both of my kids.
I want to leave as much money for them as possible to provide financial freedom.
I’ve seen too many people grind everyday just to put food on the table and are scared to speak up/leave a terrible job because of financial insecurity. I don’t want that to happen to them.
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We have given generous Christmas checks now, on the theory they can use the money more now, than after we are gone. Also gave our church the same percentage as the kids in our wills. Kids have good jobs and will be fine.
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I hope to. Our house is paid off and my pension more than covers our bills. My hope is to not have to touch my inheritance and my 401k and leave that to our kids.
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As others have described, we are extremely generous with them now, so that we know they can benefit from it and we can enjoy knowing it. And hopefully the market will not crash, so they will have a nice inheritance too.
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Yes - we have a family trust that we hope will benefit our children, grandchildren, etc. We don’t skimp on things we want to do or purchase, just to save it for after we’re gone, and our kids wouldn’t want us to. They do very well on their own, financially, and aren’t waiting around for their inheritance.
We have always told our parents to live their lives and spend their money as they see fit. My husband has a brother who is terrible with money - unfortunately his daughter suffers, so my mother-in-law has put money into a trust that will be managed and doled out by my husband after her death.
Anything left to our children will be equally divided regardless of whether one child is more financially stable than the other. My mother disinherited two of us and left her inheritance to the other two. Her reasoning at the time of her will was that latter two needed the money more. Fast forward 15 years since she did the will, and we’re all financially stable, so her decision has caused a ripple (adding to the drama is that 2 of us are her biological children and 2 are step children). It’s not about the money but rather the feelings that come with seeing one’s name in the will, expressly stating that you will receive nothing (alternatively, she could have gifted something directly to her grandchildren, which would have been fine).
Anyway, I wouldn’t recommend doing that. My friend’s mom is doing the same thing - she is still alive and has informed my friend and her two brothers that she’s leaving everything to my friend and excluding her sons, whom she has determined, “don’t need the money”. This has caused a rift in her family and has put my friend in an awkward position. Plus, she’s not happy that her mom considers her a charity case.
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Is it required that each asset is divided equally unless otherwise specified? Or is this at the discretion of the executor? Assuming your children are cooperative, can’t they decide all this later?
Thank you for posting this. These are things I’ve never thought about. My mom has always felt very strongly that my sister and I be treated the exact same way - e.g. we both had the exact same contribution to our weddings, she loads the same amount into our kids 529s, even at Christmas, if our gifts don’t have the same value (or close) the other one gets a check to make up the difference. As I’m starting to do the planning for my kids, it never occured to me that the same doesn’t necessarily mean equal. And that’s kind of embarassing because it’s totally obvious. And yet…
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My post was focused on beneficiary designations which will bypass the will.
@CFP we did 50/50.
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The goal for most people is to divide the after-tax assets 50/50. In order to do that, you may have to make the proper adjustments based on how the assets will be taxed upon death and what your kids’ individual situations are.
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Those individual situations are moving targets.
Anything my kids get from me will be a bonus, so if their tax situations determine that they see less of their equal share, good on them for being in the higher tax bracket.
My net worth, and therefore my tax bracket, is much higher than my siblings; there is no way I think I should be given more of what my Dad will leave because of that.
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I’m just sharing strategies that could hopefully benefit some people. It’s not meant as advice on what people should do for themselves.
These are all personal decisions.
Nothing I post should be considered advice.
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I have a sibling who asked my parents NOT include him in their estate planning. He was very fortunate in his career and has extreme wealth.
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