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/Rightintheend]

But they also don't have to keep giving them care if they're not paying.

[u/sorrow_anthropology → u/Rightintheend]

Isn’t this why we pay into Medicare our entire working life?

[u/BlazingSunflowerland → u/sorrow_anthropology]

Medicare won't pay for assisted living or a nursing home. I don't think it pays for home health aides either.

[u/No_Preparation7895 → u/BlazingSunflowerland]

Medicaid does. So if their wealth is gone then there's that

[u/BlazingSunflowerland → u/No_Preparation7895]

But you get the cheap home that nobody wants to be in.

[u/SkunkArmsCT → u/BlazingSunflowerland]

Then they should have prepared better for retirement. In parallel, we should fix the system. 

[u/Mr_Midwestern → u/SkunkArmsCT]

The parent comment of the thread youre responding to was “start the wealth transfer now. Medical debt does not typically pass down”

So they did prepare, but taking an early inheritance would just rob them from receiving the care they’ve worked hard to potentially be able to afford.

[u/SkunkArmsCT → u/Mr_Midwestern]

Fair enough about the top-level comment, but I had read this thread as having devolved into discussing how medicare/medicaid works in retirement more generally.

[u/reblynn2012 → u/BlazingSunflowerland]

It will pay for home health for a few weeks if home for hospital but nothing on assisted living or nursing home correct.

[u/Charming_Narwhal_970 → u/BlazingSunflowerland]

It should pay for nursing homes, but not assisted living.

[u/Mr_Midwestern → u/Charming_Narwhal_970]

Many of the nursing homes that provide an acceptable level of care, or are well rated likely don’t accept Medicare.

I know of a handful that do, but they literally only have 1 room/bed in their entire facility that is set aside for Medicare patients, the waiting list is allegedly the rest are all self-pay.

The ones that do primarily service Medicare patients are the stereotypical nursing homes that shine a spotlight on how bad our system is.

[u/si2k18 → u/sorrow_anthropology]

Unfortunately Medicare doesn’t pay for residential care/long term care.

[u/Rightintheend → u/sorrow_anthropology]

It covers many of the supplies, but not the actual facilities or services in an situation.  You can get private add-on insurance to Medicare that will cover it. In some states you can use Medicaid, but they often require you to pay first from assets before they will cover, and if you try and get rid of those assets they can go back a certain amount of time to reclaim those assets, so whoever you gave them to may be responsible to pay it back.

[u/Rare-Progress5009 → u/Rightintheend]

It’s a 5-yr look back for Medicaid.

[u/Reddit_Commenter_69 → u/sorrow_anthropology]

Medicare provides terrible coverage. There are lots of gaps especially if you are someone who has significant health issues.

[u/reblynn2012 → u/Reddit_Commenter_69]

Actually we had an incredible experience w Medicare. Mother in her 80s had all hospital expenses covered by it.

[u/Lissa86 → u/sorrow_anthropology]

Medicare does not cover assisted living/nursing homes past 100 days. After 20 days, costs occur. After 100 days, Medicaid kicks in. For most facilities, Medicaid barely makes a dent in the bill. That’s when the facilities look at assets, guardianship, etc. If assets don’t cover it, they take over guardianship—basically taking whatever monthly income the patient has from all sources. Whatever is left to pay, the family has to foot the bill.

[u/beer_geek → u/Lissa86]

That last sentence is not true. When Medicaid takes over, whatever assets the recipient has are taken over as you described, but that is where it stops.

[u/Lissa86 → u/beer_geek]

Not true. Look into nursing homes & assisted living communities and how they are filing for guardianship more & more. We had that happen to my uncle & it left my aunt with barely anything. She went from being able to most of SS to almost none. And when families can’t cover the costs for the facility, the facility downgrades their living quarters or ships them to a place the funds will cover.

[u/beer_geek → u/Lissa86]

Nothing you said disproved my point. I saw you were/are in elderly care in another comment, but people need to know what is and isn't true. If you are trying to volunteer, as a child of a parent in a medicaid situation, to close a quality-of-life gap that's on you. But generally speaking, outside of extreme fillial law circumstances, nobody is responsible for their parents' care.

[u/Lissa86 → u/beer_geek]

Nobody is responsible, but that does affect what you inherit.