It’s estimated baby boomers will pass down more than $80 trillion to their millennial and Gen X heirs over the next 20 years.
This is going to be the greatest wealth transfer the world has ever seen.
The timing of these transfers will be a hotly debated topic for many families.
Baby boomers were born between 1946 and 1964, making them in the range of 60-78 years old. Let’s assume that puts the ages of their children somewhere in the range of 30-50.
The average life expectancy for someone in the 60-78 age range is somewhere in the neighborhood of 83 to 90.1
That would mean most children receiving an inheritance will do so sometime in their 60s. Obviously, not everyone will be in the fortunate position of receiving an inheritance. If you are in that position, count yourself lucky.
However, some young people will prefer to get the money sooner rather than later, when they have more responsibilities.
Here’s one such example from a Reddit post:
This guy is NOT happy. His parents and in-laws have millions of dollars. He’s struggling financially and would like to tap into that inheritance early.
Look, I don’t know all the details here. Maybe the parents are blind. Or maybe this guy is bad with his finances and they’re trying to teach him a lesson.
Whoever you side with on this kind of thing, this story makes it clear there are some generational differences in how baby boomers and millennials view family money.
I would like to share some thoughts on these generational differences.
These are overgeneralizations that don’t include everyone from these groups but this is what I’ve observed through my experiences with family, friends, peers, clients and readers when it comes to money differences between baby boomers and millennials:
Baby boomers. The