Tag Archives: inheritances

OLDEST BOOMERS TURN 80 IN 2026

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#BabyBoomers #ChildrenOfBabyBoomers #80In2026 #RealEstateAppreciation #inheritances
The oldest of the Baby Boom generation will turn 80 in 2026.
The first socially conscious generation will see their children and grandchildren, in many cases, not do as well as they did financially.
Mike Schneider discussed this milestone in an Associated Press story published Dec. 27, 2025, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The Baby Boomers are a product of parents coming back from World War II and creating a lot of babies.
Back then, starting in 1946, the country started a prosperity boom that would last many years. The middle class, if not born then, grew exponentially, thanks largely to the GI Bill, which allowed troops coming home from war to build lives – and relatively cheap homes — in what are now mostly suburbs.
Those homes appreciated greatly during the lives of the children born to those families.
Even the youngest of Boomers have reached age 65, which is the retirement age for many.
As those Boomers die, many will pass on a great inheritance to their children and grandchildren.
Boomers were also among the first to get married later and have fewer children. That trend has continued, but not for the same reasons, among subsequent generations, the article states.
During the formative years of the Baby Boom, civil rights among oppressed groups advanced. Women’s rights also advanced. More kids went to college. Many women established careers, thereby often postponing marriage and/or having children.
Logically, the longer people wait to have children, they will have fewer of them. Large families became unusual.
The children and grandchildren of the Boomers face different circumstances. More of them are living in their parents’ home well into adulthood. To paraphrase a quote from the Schneider article, their parents were able to buy lots of stuff cheap, that the later generations cannot.
Rents, groceries, cars and all the necessary things to build a life are way more expensive now than when the Boomers were young. Continual appreciation is good for the sellers, not the buyers.
And the salaries for the Boomers’ kids and grandkids have hardly kept pace with the higher costs. That makes it much more difficult for young adults today to start independent lives.
Some of these young adults will undoubtedly be leaning on Mom and Dad, or their inheritances, well into middle age. How they are going to have comfortable retirements remains a big question. Hopefully, they won’t squander their inheritances.
Yes, America, as are most countries of the world. Is aging. Schnider points out that without robust immigration the population will decline in the coming decades. China is already seeing signs of a shrinking population despite government incentives to have more children, according to recent reports.
As the U.S. cracks down on immigration, companies are looking to AI and other technological advances to do the jobs humans once did. Some people, particularly young adults just starting their lives, might be apprehensive at entry-level employment prospects, no matter how smart they are or how much education they have.
The Boomers, by and large, had a good life., and many still do. But, if they wanted their offspring to have it better than they did, many will be disappointed.
Peter

WE ALL WANT TO BE WEALTHY, DON’T WE?

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You may love your current life, but, deep down, wouldn’t you want to be wealthy?
You may rail against the fat cats who get all the breaks, but, secretly, you’d love to be among them.
Who gets wealthy, and who doesn’t?
One may inherit wealth. One may get wealthy through luck (think lottery winners).
But most people who get wealthy on their own have a certain mindset. Usually, they actively look for opportunities to get wealthy. And, usually, they never stop looking. It becomes a mission.
Once they find the opportunity, they do what they need to do to make it happen. Often, they will do things others will not do.
They have the determination to keep doing those things into perpetuity to maintain their wealth, since they know that if they stop, their wealth could go away.
Certainly, people who are not wealthy will work hard, and have the determination to keep working hard. The difference is the opportunity. For many, opportunities either never cross their paths or they don’t see the opportunity if it is presented. Some may actually fear opportunity.
Some, perhaps, would see the opportunity, but not want to do what it takes to take advantage of it.
Wealthy people, generally, do not prioritize security. An old financial services TV ad tells its viewers that it wants people looking for opportunities, not guarantees.
In the modern age, security in the workplace is hard to come by. So, some folks keep their “secure” jobs, while looking for and taking advantage of opportunities on the side. When the side opportunity starts to work out, they may quit their “secure” jobs.
Some people get wealthy off the backs, or at the expense, of others. It’s tough for most people to sleep at night if they’ve made a lot of money by screwing over other people.
Often, wealthy people are no different from those who are not wealthy – except for their passion to look for opportunities.
Also quite often, if a wealthy person somehow loses his or her fortune, their mindset will allow them to build it all over again, perhaps with a new opportunity.
Opportunities are different from circumstances. Those who are not wealthy, but are envious of those who are, tend to blame circumstances for their lack of wealth. The wealthy person tends to brush off circumstances and actively look for opportunities.
Even in the quest for wealth, luck can play a part. But those with the opportunity mindset do what they must to make their own luck.
In short, uninherited wealth is not given. It is made. Hard work alone will not make you wealthy. But the combination of hard work, determination to look for opportunities and making good decisions in life can put you on the path to wealth.
It doesn’t happen overnight, in most cases. As the saying goes, it could take you 40 years to be an overnight success.
To be wealthy, you have to be always looking. You have to want more than what others would settle for. You have to be more than content. You have to want to be happy. Money doesn’t buy happiness, the saying goes, but, as an acquaintance used to say, it can certainly help you work out your problems in style.
Peter

THE GREAT WEALTH TRANSFER: ARE YOU PREPARED?

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#GreatWealthTransfer #BabyBoomers #wealth #inheritances #EstatePlanning
A few generations back, the parents of Baby Boomers turned, or were about to turn, huge amounts in inheritance to their children or other heirs.
Those parents had built usually modest homes for relatively modest prices, though they didn’t think so at the time. Much of that homebuilding was thanks in large part to the federal GI bill that was passed as veterans came home from World War II to start families and new lives.
Those modest homes increased in value many times over during that generation’s lifetime.
That gave the children of that generation a big chunk of wealth to inherit.
And, many of them did – big time.
Now, the Baby Boom generation has a bunch of wealth to pass on to its children – the GenXers and Millennials.
Wes Moss, who writes a Money Matters column for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and has a similar weekly program on WSB radio in Atlanta, calls this “The Great Wealth Transfer.”
He discussed it in his column published April 24. 2022.
Moss writes that between $30 trillion and $68 trillion in wealth will be passed down from Baby Boomers.
To put that in perspective, the U.S. GDP (gross domestic product) for 2021 was $22 trillion, Moss writes.
When you take the 136 million people who are GenXers or Millennials, and you use the $30 trillion figure, that would mean each of those folks – statistically speaking — would get $220,000, Moss writes. We know that not everyone will inherit that much individually, and some will inherit much more.
Think you don’t have that kind of money in your family? Moss sites a person with a great aunt who died. The great nephew didn’t realize how much money she had. She was able to give all her great nephews and great nieces a nice chunk of change.
In other words, there could be that kind of money somewhere in your family, and you may not know it until a death occurs.
For Baby Boomers, this lesson brings about the need for proper estate planning. Yes, you may have more than what you think you have. How it gets distributed upon your death, or even before, should not be left to chance – or probate court. It would be worth the investment to draw out an estate plan, such as a will or living trust, to make sure the money goes where, or to whom, you want, when you want.
If you are a GenXer or Millennial, talk to your parents and other family members about how THEY want their estates distributed. Make sure that, if you believe you may have something coming to you, that your interest is protected.
Of course, if there are no heirs or your family members have not shown themselves worthy of inheritance, having an estate plan is even more crucial, so that your money goes where you want.
If you are transferring your wealth, get an adviser you trust to tell you how, when and to whom to give your assets – according to your wishes. Keep in mind that you should do all YOU want to do while alive with your assets. Don’t think about your heirs first. Think of you first.
Remember, too, that how, when and to whom you give will likely have tax consequences. Know those consequences, and what could happen if a mistake is made, well ahead of time.
It’s certainly great to reward loyal, loving family members or other heirs with your wealth. But if you think about you first, and plan carefully, all concerned should be, if not happy, assured that the distribution was done as you wanted it to be done.
Peter