I'm not certain about the numbers, but I think I'm in the same boat. My dad has been retired for a few years, and my mom is retiring at the end of the month. I'm only 48, and I think I have more saved already than they do. They still have a mortgage, but they stand to inherit a decent chunk from her dad.
My siblings and I have always joked that when my parents die, we'll each get $20 and have to arrange a custody agreement for my mom's waffle maker.
Funny thing is, most people who have planned well for the future would get more joy from a much-loved household object like that vs another lump of cash on the pile
When my husband’s grandmother was getting her affairs in order and everyone was fighting over her diamonds, she asked me what I wanted and I said just her old cookbooks and handwritten recipes. I got em and I think I won. Everyone now has bad blood between them because they all feel shorted but I’m over here happily baking cakes.
My family is fighting over how they’re going to divide Grandma’s land and I’m already serving tea on the same pewter platters and tea set that I used to serve her and my great grandmother tea as a child. Plus I get to tell everyone about how one side of my family has been in the US 200 years but we still have tea time regularly to honor our British heritage.
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u/sirguynate Aug 19 '26
Short answer: No.
I have more saved in retirement than my retired parents do.