Half of Baby Boomers to Leave Inheritance to Kids
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Nick M Do/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Trillions of dollars in wealth is expected to be transferred from the generation of Baby Boomers who die in the next half-century, but their offspring shouldn’t be expecting a cash windfall.
Only 55 percent of Baby Boomers think it is important to leave a financial inheritance to their children, according to the U.S. Trust Insights on Wealth and Worth annual study.
U.S. Trust commissioned an independent, national survey of 642 high net worth adults, who were not clients, with at least $3 million in investable assets. The study, released on Monday, includes findings on a number of subjects, including elder care planning, estate planning, and the wealthy survey respondents’ thoughts about charitable giving.
Only 44 percent of those surveyed think the wealthy have a responsibility to “pass their wealth to the next generation.” Of Baby Boomers surveyed, 31 percent don’t think it is important to leave a financial inheritance and said they would rather leave money to charity than to their children.
The study defined the Baby Boom generation as those aged 47 to 66.
“Between now and 2050, there are going to be trillions of dollars of wealth that will transfer to children and other heirs and what’s interesting is high net worth parents worry now that their children are not prepared to inherit wealth that will be theirs one day,” said Keith Banks, president of U.S. Trusts.
The top reason for not wanting to leave an inheritance are the beliefs that each generation should earn its own wealth (57 percent). Following closely behind that, 54 percent believe it is more important to invest in children’s success while they are growing up.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio