If you knew you would inherit $6M, would you do things different?

[Anonymous]

You shouldn’t change anything. Act as if you won’t get it. 6 million isn’t enough to live on anymore, so don’t get ahead of your self planning on a possible inheritance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You shouldn’t change anything. Act as if you won’t get it. 6 million isn’t enough to live on anymore, so don’t get ahead of your self planning on a possible inheritance.

6m is very conservatively 200k+ per year. You can easily live on that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i supported my parents through the last 25 years of their life; that was mostly 30k a year until the last several years which turned into more like $200k a year with memory care.

there is currently a generational trust in my spouses family but they are likely to live at least another 25 years. i view the actual inheritance to be the fact that we won't have to monetarily support them in old age. the primary lifestyle change we made is that we did decide to have children; i probably would not have done IVF if there had been any danger of needing to support the previous generation for significant years.

they have set up nice 529s for our children, and they buy the plane tickets for us to visit; those are the primary extent of our planning reliance on their money. (though we still contribute what our state allows for deductions to another 529). spouses tax-advantaged retirement funds are a little light for their age, which likely reflects some unconscious reliance on inheritance but their overall portfolio is fine. i'm contributing the max i can to mine including catch-up.

in short, my perspective is that there is no windfall coming, and i live my life accordingly. our newest car is almost 20 years old and that's completely fine. we have a decent UMC life, and i'm delighted to hopefully have decades where they can enjoy their grandchildren.

$200k a year on memory care is criminal and unnecessary. If this were the going rate, then think of how many people would work as memory care providers 24-7. No college education necessary but you live with someone and they pay you $200k a year. The market for this is incredibly small. Many people paying amounts like this are big spenders their entire life, or taken for a wild ride.

The average length of LTC is 2-4 years. During this time, your money should be growing and if you’re a widow then you should not have any other expenses since you’re not living at home.

I do feel bad for the elderly who spend large portions of their net worth on care, when it truly isn’t necessary. The large corporations providing care aren’t necessarily providing better care as their employees are often paid very little or minimum wage.

[Anonymous]

Would change everything. We will never have six million and have a nice life so we'd both retire and do something else we are passionate about.

[Anonymous]

My late-70s parents have about $20 million in assets I know about and more in assets I’m not aware of, so I imagine my two siblings and I will some day inherit at least $2 or $3 million each even if they spend most of their money on care. But I’m hoping that’s not for many years, and I’m not making financial decisions accounting for it. I don’t think a sudden windfall that gives me more money than I thought I’d have would be a terrible financial hardship to plan around, and I don’t think we’re suffering now because we aren’t spending more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You shouldn’t change anything. Act as if you won’t get it. 6 million isn’t enough to live on anymore, so don’t get ahead of your self planning on a possible inheritance.

6m is very conservatively 200k+ per year. You can easily live on that.

I couldn’t but good for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My late-70s parents have about $20 million in assets I know about and more in assets I’m not aware of, so I imagine my two siblings and I will some day inherit at least $2 or $3 million each even if they spend most of their money on care. But I’m hoping that’s not for many years, and I’m not making financial decisions accounting for it. I don’t think a sudden windfall that gives me more money than I thought I’d have would be a terrible financial hardship to plan around, and I don’t think we’re suffering now because we aren’t spending more.

These insane assumptions about care are really something. Imagine an elderly couple spending $17 million on end of life care.

[Anonymous]

Don't worry these boomers will spend it all selfishly

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You shouldn’t change anything. Act as if you won’t get it. 6 million isn’t enough to live on anymore, so don’t get ahead of your self planning on a possible inheritance.

6m is very conservatively 200k+ per year. You can easily live on that.

Yeh in 1980

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You shouldn’t change anything. Act as if you won’t get it. 6 million isn’t enough to live on anymore, so don’t get ahead of your self planning on a possible inheritance.

6m is very conservatively 200k+ per year. You can easily live on that.

Yeh in 1980

C’mon. With a paid off house you can easily live on $200k.

My elderly mother spends $75k a year and this includes home maintenance and decent international travel. She is able to do this because she has no mortgage, car payment or any sort of significant bills.

Her net worth grows significantly every year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My late-70s parents have about $20 million in assets I know about and more in assets I’m not aware of, so I imagine my two siblings and I will some day inherit at least $2 or $3 million each even if they spend most of their money on care. But I’m hoping that’s not for many years, and I’m not making financial decisions accounting for it. I don’t think a sudden windfall that gives me more money than I thought I’d have would be a terrible financial hardship to plan around, and I don’t think we’re suffering now because we aren’t spending more.

These insane assumptions about care are really something. Imagine an elderly couple spending $17 million on end of life care.

I’m not assuming they will, I’m saying that even extremely conservatively, I imagine I’ll inherit several million dollars. But it isn’t my money yet, and I don’t want it to be any time soon, so I’m not spending it now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My late-70s parents have about $20 million in assets I know about and more in assets I’m not aware of, so I imagine my two siblings and I will some day inherit at least $2 or $3 million each even if they spend most of their money on care. But I’m hoping that’s not for many years, and I’m not making financial decisions accounting for it. I don’t think a sudden windfall that gives me more money than I thought I’d have would be a terrible financial hardship to plan around, and I don’t think we’re suffering now because we aren’t spending more.

These insane assumptions about care are really something. Imagine an elderly couple spending $17 million on end of life care.

I’m not assuming they will, I’m saying that even extremely conservatively, I imagine I’ll inherit several million dollars. But it isn’t my money yet, and I don’t want it to be any time soon, so I’m not spending it now.

Replying to myself to add: Actually in my parents' case they have one of the LTC insurance policies that companies no longer offer because they were losing money on them, so it's probably safe to assume they won't spend much on end of life care regardless. But still — I don't see what the harm is in continuing to save our own money before we inherit theirs.

[Anonymous]

I am told that I will inherit at least that. I will change nothing about behavior in advance. The reason I may even stand to inherit that is because I don’t come from foolish people who count their chickens before they hatch.

[Anonymous]

Do not plan for this. Mom dies, dad remarries, new wife takes all.

[Anonymous]

I would travel with the kids more to make special memories and give them those experiences.