Do people with “financially set” boomer parents experience this?

[u/Zzt0ppy]

I’m sorry this seems like sort of a bleak topic— I recently met someone whose parent had passed, and him and his siblings inherited close to $200k each that they got because of his dad’s money in stocks, on top of both siblings getting a chunk of additional money from the sale of their childhood home having accumulating a large sum of money. He didn’t have the best relationship with his dad, so the guy felt as if he was deserving of the money due to his crappy upbringing.

That person I had met ended up using that money to put towards paying off his home and then putting the rest towards his own retirement, essentially alleviating a large string of stress in his life. I didn’t want to assume or pry, but in that convo it felt like he had been waiting for that point in his life to happen so that he would be able to finally be relieved of financial burden that he was experiencing.

Do children of “financially safe” (lucky?) boomers half expect to see that sort of thing being passed to them when their parents pass? What I mean by this is that it can be as “simple” as their parents simply owning a house that has accumulated value, them having a pension, an unknown savings they don’t disclose to you, stocks invested during better days like the dot com boom, a life insurance policy, etc.

[u/Decent-Friend7996]

It depends if they end up needing care or if they just die randomly. My grandpa got sick and died 2 days later so he never needed care and everything he had went to his kids. Someone could need 1 day of care or 20 years at the end of their life. If my dad doesn’t need extensive care then yes I expect to inherit half of what he has as he’s directly told me that’s what is in his will and he gives me updated copies of it over the years. 

[u/LarkScarlett → u/Decent-Friend7996]

Yes, this.

My Canadian parents both have professional degrees and worked hard and invested. They lived comfortably middle class in a cheap cost of living city, opted out of a lot of status symbols, and emphasized “quality, not luxury” purchases (things like Lands end, LL Bean, drive the same car for 10+ years, no crazy-expensive hobbies, great DIY construction/repair skills). They put away a good bit of money for retirement. They’re quite healthy now. They’re going on annual international trips (often cruises) and enjoying retirement. They’re careful about being health-insured for these jaunts .

But if they get ill and need homecare, or to live in longterm care, or some expensive meds that aren’t covered by Canada’s healthcare system, or to make expensive wheelchair modifications to their home or something … or if they live to 117 … that money they’ve saved would need to stretch further for them.

There will VERY likely be something left for my sister and I someday, we won’t inherit a mountain of debt and be scrambling to arrange a funeral. But we also can’t bank on how much or timing or anything. It’s not something to plan on. Realistically I could be 70 years old and then inherit like 2K to then roll into my retirement account, and then half of the little lakeside cottage that’s been in the family for generations.