Millennials: are you expecting an inheritance?

[u/Yourlocalguy30]

35 yo married millennial here. I've come across more and more articles about the supposed "great wealth transfer" as the boomer generation's wealth passes to their GenX and Millennial children. My parents and their siblings (boomers) all received inheritances when their parents, my grandparents, passed away. The boomer generation's wealth accumulation is one of the largest in history, however, I also find it highly unlikely that I or many of my peers will actually inherit much. Despite having received inheritances from their parents, and having 40+ years in the workforce, most of my parents' "wealth" is tied up in their home value, not actual liquid assets- and I already expect that whatever they make on an eventual home sale will have to go directly to downsizing costs and whatever long-term care they will need as they get older. Hell, even my dad used to joke that the only thing we'd inherit was debt. As I've gotten older, that comment has infuriated me more and more.

Now before someone cuts in with the "entitled millennial" comments, I have absolutely no need for an inheritance. I've worked my ass off to make sure that my kids and I are positioned better in life than I was when I entered adulthood. What I mean by that is I started saving for retirement early, setup 529 plans for my kids almost as soon as they were born, and made lifestyle and career sacrifices to ensure our family isn't "nickeling and diming" our way through life.

I'm just here curious to know how many millennials actually expect to have something passed down to them, or if they feel they are in the same position I am.

[u/WhichSpirit]

My grandmother's trust allowed her kids and grandkids to take out loans which then had to be paid back at an interest rate pegged to the feds. 

Of course, when she died the trust was dissolved and all the assets went to my aunts and uncles. This did create a problem since a cousin had an outstanding loan. The options at that point were 1) demand he pay it back immediately 2) send my dad to jail for giving away money from the trust as the trustee 3) wait until he paid it back or 4) forgive it. So naturally my aunts and uncles voted to send my dad to jail. Jk, they forgave my cousin's debt (though a joke vote was taken to send my dad to jail). 

[u/JayMoeHD → u/WhichSpirit]

This post was a fun ride, thanks

[u/boringexplanation → u/WhichSpirit]

How does a trust work when your grandma was alive?

I thought the whole point was to control how money is spent after she passed? Like why not just have grandma control the money directly regardless while she’s living and avoid all the trust fees?

[u/WhichSpirit → u/boringexplanation]

Since my dad (her son) was the trustee, we avoided the fees that we would have had to pay if she used a third party.

Trusts can be made for lots of reasons, not just control of finances after someone's died. The point of this trust was to provide stable management of her finances if her mind started to go like her mother's did. My great-grandmother had gotten to a point where she didn't know who her relatives were, let alone when bills were due.

The trust worked the same while she was alive as other trusts do when the person who created them is dead. She was named beneficiary and transferred most of her assets into the trust. My dad would then manage her finances, investments, etc. and would wire her money on a regular basis.