To think it’s unfair that some people get inheritance while others start with nothing?

Hello really world are you there!!

I’m really surprised how few people agree with you. I agree that I want to live in a society where everyone has an equal chance at a fulfilling and rewarding life and as a result I’ve always been quite pro inheritance tax. As I get older I can see that I might feel differently though as I might have money I want to pass on. I’ve also realised that what I really mean when I think about equal start is good state-funded early years support, education and healthcare; access to housing, equally valued jobs etc. If all these things were right then I’d probably feel less strongly about inheritance tax and I’d also hope that there’d be less difference between the amounts people were able to pass on.

Or somebody could have an essay to write ?

With AI to produce a summary !

How ridiculous! Some people work to leave their families in a better position. You seem either too young and idealistic or sign posting towards hard left and full of envy. You want to tax heavily presumably to get some benefit yourself from the inheritance of other people.

Of course it's not fair. But who lives to adulthood without realising that a person's success, happiness and life chances are not based in some cosmic equitable distribution as much as an accident of birth? Unless the state takes every baby and brings them all up in an institution with exactly the same privileges and benefits, the 'unfairness' arising from which parents you're born to can never be addressed. Inheritance is just one factor amongst many. Its not solvable so all we can ever hope to do is attempt to level up the less advantaged through state input. Unfortunately you then get the privileged crying 'unfair!' so that never fully catches on.

You can live well in your lifetime

How ridiculous.

I inherited nothing.

however due to some good choices- not luck, but careful investing and weighing up decisions, I’m in a financial position where i can probably help both my children on to the property ladder. Whether this is before my death or after again will be a choice I make.

i have several friends who thought I was stupid making some of my choices, including “tying myself down” to a mortgage while still a student, and also buying a small student flat instead of waiting for marriage and a suburban 3 bed house with a garden. Many are still waiting, and bemoan my “luck” buying when I did, when they could have made the same choice but didn’t want to lower themselves to single life in a flat.

i don’t see why my kids shouldn’t benefit from my decisions. It was driven by wanting to give my kids the safety net I didn’t have anyway.

if I couldn’t leave it as inheritance I’d be spending it so as not to leave IHT anyway.

To be fair, the 60's and 70's were the aberration, as 'inheritocracy' is the default in pretty much all human societies, apart from traditional communism.

There is certainly a lot to be said for reversing the vast wealth inequality which is so damaging to society, which would include high rates of inheritance tax among other measures.

As someone else said , I’ve recieved an inheritance which you may not think is fair but I also lost a parent young so that’s not fair either. Nothing in life is fair!

Yes, when it comes down to my money and my property it absolutely is 'as long as my kid is alright'. You look after your kid and I'll look after mine.

You are being ridiculously unreasonable.

Your issue is with your parents - not other peoples.

Nope, mum was a dinner lady and cleaner and her English wasn't (and isn't) very good. I had an amazing English teacher who suggested to her on a parent's evening that I was Oxbridge material, and supported me closely all the way. Having a teacher who put in the extra time and effort, up to and including having me round to her house at weekends for extra work to help me prep, and 'demystifying' the whole world of university to me in general, was a massive piece of luck for me and an immense privilege.

When I got to Oxford I found the work easy but the social aspect extremely hard. I was a fish out of water. Middle and upper middle class kids are a lot more confident and I was frankly terrified, to the point of not wanting to leave my room. But I found a huge amount of support from the college chaplain who made a lot of time for me. Again, a mentor when I desperately needed one.

Doubtless OP would think that this fortunate circumstance of mine was also 'unfair', and I suppose it was. But I feel very, very fortunate to have had that sort of encouragement from adults in my life who went above and beyond.

Privileged?????

My DF worked his bloody socks off and was sensible with his money in the hope that his children could have an easier life than he did.

We have done the same. When we go our kids will (hopefully) inherit from both their GF and us. That way they MAY just be able to own their own houses.

Privileged? Bollocks.

Do not give the looney ideas. May be they start taxing beauty soon. 😂

I lost a parent young and also never received an inheritance 😂

True that nothing is fair. We could all race to the bottom so we can all live in misery.

Do you seriously think that any money I have saved after working for over fifty years and the house that I paid for out of my own taxed earnings shouldn't be left to my own children?
I grew up in social housing, poor as church mice. I have worked damn hard to ensure that I have something to leave to MY children/grandchildren.
I'm not sure if it is naivety or stupidity on your part to be honest.
But I am fairly sure it's envy.

Politics of envy “it’s not fair that I had shit parents* and others did not!”

(And sometimes not even that - it’s just the way things work.)

Why would you tax inheritance more heavily than anything else you tax? As others have said life isn't fair. All we can do is tax appropriately. No one should be a billionaire in my eyes. Let's start there rather than Amy's £100k from her parents.

Great, get the economy moving!

The modest amount I'm likely to inherit (care costs aside) will just about bring my pension up to a reasonable amount as it's far lower than it should be due to the economy

If we say inheritance gives an unfair advantage should we also be putting a stop to other privilege?

private school for example? Many people who have a private school education will do better in life than those getting an inheritance in their 50’s.

if I couldn’t leave money to my kids I’d probably have given them a private school education by remortgaging.

Is this the first time in life you've come across the fact that life isn't 'fair' and that there are so many different ways people have a better start in life ?

Born into a loving family / abusive family
Born intelligent / learning difficulties

Born good looking / disfigured
Born with great hand - eye co-ordination, strength and speed / mobility issues
Raised by parents who read to you every night, take you out to places, talk and listen to you / Born to parents that don't interact with you
Raised by parents who take you to swimming lessons , sports clubs, Brownies or cubs, or having the chance to learn a musical instrument / raised where parents either aren't able to or aren't interested in doing so
Having a secure home / renting and having to move on / living in a hostel or B&B / literally no home
Being brought up bi or multilingual / being brought up with just one language
Being brought up traveling to different places on holiday each year / not even getting day trips

and hundreds more (plus all the 'inbetween the extremes' of course).

This ↗️

You're not wrong that it's unfair, of course it is but despite not getting much inheritance myself, I still want my kids to inherit from us.