How Much of an Inheritance is Too Much for Kids

[Anonymous]

I’m from an extended family with branches who have taken different approaches and my conclusion is that it doesn’t matter as far as how your kids turn out overall unless someone is really off the rails already. Some of them (especially the girls) may work less or doing something less lucrative than they otherwise might have done, but no differently than from any other windfall.

I do think parents or grandparents who are sitting on a lot but don’t give anything can cause some resentment but that’s really a personal thing and again I don’t think it changes the adult children much if at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Enough to do anything they want with their lives. Not so much that they can do nothing.

This is more a grandchildren question because your children are likely to be at least middle aged when you die.

[Anonymous]

$5m in todays dollars is enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:3-4 mil to each (assuming 2) and some generation-skipping trusts for the rest of the funds? Some charitable giving, too?

No charitable giving unless I end up being worth like 50M+. Need to ensure the next 2-3 generations of my family will not be in need of charity before I feel comfortable donating.

End of thread. OP doesn't want advice. OP just wants to brag.

[Anonymous]

About tree-fiddy.

[Anonymous]

The best charity you can give the world is to put yourself and any existing children on contraception.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am figuring out some aspects of my estate and retirement planning, and I'm curious how much people think is appropriate to leave as an inheritance for your kids. Is there an amount of inheritance that would level that would be too much for each kid? I plan to max out Roth IRA contributions until retirement and not touch this money to leave it as an inheritance for my kids. This means our Roth IRAs will likely have a total inflation-adjusted value of around 3-6 million when I turn 80.

Here's a summary of my projected retirement situation for context.
4,000 monthly pretax pension
2,000 monthly social security (assuming SSI benefits are cut substantially due to current funding issues. The actual amount will likely be around 4k between me and my spouse assuming a 20% cut in benefits)
$5,000 monthly pretax from 401ks (assuming a 4% withdrawal rate and worst historical returns from Cfiresims calculator)
Brokerage account
$2500 a month from our brokerage account (minimum estimate, will likely be more but inflation-adjusted value of brokerage account will certainly exceed 1M in retirement)
A few rental properties (combined value of around 1.4M. I am unsure about the amount of after-tax income so I'm ignoring them for retirement purposes)

Primary residence is worth around 850k, and the mortgage will be paid off before retirement.

In conclusion, if things go very badly, my kids will split an inheritance of at least 8M. However, if market returns are closer to historical norms (25th-50th percentile returns), they will inherit 15M+. I am only going to have 2 or 3 kids, so I am somewhat hesitant about whether this is an appropriate amount to leave my kids or if it is too much.

Then why are you even asking the question, OP?

If you're young enough that you don't have kids, you have no idea what lies in store for your life. Maybe you won't have that money to leave to your kids. Maybe you won't have kids.

You're ridiculous.

I definitely will have this much money and I will 100% have kids, so this is not a question. First kid will be born within 1-2 years year or so. I did not include my inheritance in this calc either. I'm not planning on it and I would prefer that my family members spend it on themselves instead, but 99% chance it happens unless there is WW3 or something. If I get very unlucky and I don't have any kids my sister has some already, so the question is still relevant.

[Anonymous]

Nice brag!

[Anonymous]

I mean, ideally you live until your kids are in their 60s, so it’s not like you’re changing the trajectory of a 20-something’s life.

Pay for their college, help with a down payment, and then use the money to do good in the world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The best charity you can give the world is to put yourself and any existing children on contraception.

You are one of those misanthropes that hates humanity and thinks humans should go extinct, so I am going to ignore your advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:3-4 mil to each (assuming 2) and some generation-skipping trusts for the rest of the funds? Some charitable giving, too?

No charitable giving unless I end up being worth like 50M+. Need to ensure the next 2-3 generations of my family will not be in need of charity before I feel comfortable donating.

And yet here you are, a classless beggar asking for free advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The best charity you can give the world is to put yourself and any existing children on contraception.

You are one of those misanthropes that hates humanity and thinks humans should go extinct, so I am going to ignore your advice.

Sorry for the confusion. I wasn't referring to everyone, just referring to you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I mean, ideally you live until your kids are in their 60s, so it’s not like you’re changing the trajectory of a 20-something’s life.

Pay for their college, help with a down payment, and then use the money to do good in the world.

OP only cares about their genes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nice brag!

I'm not bragging. I am looking for advice from people because I think they might have a different perspective or potentially anecdotes on how this worked out for someone in their family/social circle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m from an extended family with branches who have taken different approaches and my conclusion is that it doesn’t matter as far as how your kids turn out overall unless someone is really off the rails already. Some of them (especially the girls) may work less or doing something less lucrative than they otherwise might have done, but no differently than from any other windfall.

I do think parents or grandparents who are sitting on a lot but don’t give anything can cause some resentment but that’s really a personal thing and again I don’t think it changes the adult children much if at all.

Hmm that's interesting, I don't want to incentives bad behavior either. It somewhat defeats the purpose of giving them an inheritance if they end up getting a degree in social work at Yale or something. I don't want them to take a low paying job because of it.