A generation waiting to inherit

[Okaydoklay]

With house prices being so high, are we creating a generation of people who home ownership is out of their grasp, and those who have wealthier parents , they are all waiting for their parents to pass to ever be able to afford their own home.

CurlyhairedAssassin - my point albeit round about...

LauderSyme

Maybe not though, with changes to pensions and knowledge/ being informed future generations can manage things differently in a way that works for their future. It's not likely to be sprung upon them at the last minute.

My cousin has no children, and is planning to leave everything to the Cats Protection League!

So..........?

To those posters who have said on here that they have given/are intending to give their wealth away to their children: what will you do if you need to fund care in later years? You can take your chances on Council-run care, or live more comfortably privately-funded.
My parents always said they had no intention of "going into a home." My mother died relatively quickly after a terminal diagnosis, so managed with Macmillan nurses at home. My dad coped well living alone (with support from us children) for a year or so, until his mobility and general health nose-dived. He then declared he wanted to move into a residential home. He had the luxury of being able to choose what he wanted - but the fees are £6000 per MONTH. This is exactly what their acquired (hard-earned from VERY basic roots from the early married years) wealth is for. He is beautifully cared-for and very contented and happy, and there is no way he could have managed at home just with carers coming in. He now has advanced-stage cancer, and needs at least 2 qualified people (sometimes 3) to hoist him, as he has lost all strength in his legs.
These "baby-boomers" that some like to mock on here, might just be conserving their own funds for situations just like my dad's, and good for them. My parents could have off-loaded money to us years ago, but thank God they didn't.

If and when we inherit money from our parents then some will go towards our pensions and some to our DS. My mum has already given me some money and I hope to do the same for our DS. He may as well have it when he needs it which isn't when he's 65!

Those who laugh at Corbyn's original socialist ideals (normality on the continent) on the grounds that they were bringing back the 1970s need to consider that what has been created without is a return to the 1870s. The time built on an entirely rigid class system based on land ownership and reliance on inheritance from old male relatives."

Theoretically this (return to the 1870s land ownership patterns) should never be possible as we now have one person one vote democracy. (if this point seems familiar I banged on about it on another thread about btl!) Once the 'people' can vote out the government you should always end up with government for the "not exactly many but still more than the very few". Obviously that is a simplistic analysis but it does seem to me that there'll be a tipping point.

In fact i think the total arbitrariness of inheritance (where did your dparents live, how long, did they need care, how many dc did they have?) may eventually be its undoing. The lottery nature of it will mean that a political party that tries to redress some of that unfairness will win some votes. (And in fact I think labour is already looking into questions like lifetime gifts tax etc to replace current iht rules)

@Rachelover40

Mine won't be spent funding a care home, I'll be cared for at home as will my husband if we need it. We've both decided on that and there will be sufficient money to facilitate professional care. The only exception is if either of us become demented, go out at night in night clothes, are out of control, etc, then a specialist care home might be necessary but we sincerely hope not.

Don't ever be sure. A colleague, her DH just had an horrendous stroke, mid 50's left as a complete shell, no speech, no discernible thought, cant walk, double incontinent. She feels guilty as he has had to go into a specialist care home. Please don't say you've thought out all the scenarios because few of us do. Its funded for 8 weeks, there after she has to pay £2k per week - how much do you think it would cost for 24/7 care at home, to lift, turn, clean, feed, administer drugs - and it would be 2 handed care, he's a large bloke.

So @Rachelover have you got enough saved to pay for £100K care per annum for the next 40 years at home?

I sincerely hope that euthanasia/assisted suicide has been legalised before I need to start thinking about funding my own care. Soylent Green-style heading off to a nice facility when you feel the end is nigh appeals to me far more than living out my days not able to look after myself or being a burden to my daughter. My husband feels exactly the same.

future generations can manage things differently in a way that works for their future

But no or very little spare money is still no or very little spare money, no matter how you manage it. Wages have stagnated and certain living costs have soared. People can't save or put money into a pension scheme because such a high proportion of their income goes on daily expenses, especially housing. Occupational pensions have been slashed in any case. On top of all that Brexit may be looming. The future, whether twenty, thirty or forty years ahead does not look rosy for an awful lot of people.

Neither of us expect to inherit anything. We have a house each that we rent out as well as our home. When we get our oa pensions we're going to sell the houses then gift deposits to our dc and spend the rest. Dc will be mid to late 30's so if they are already home owners then we will pay a chunk off their mortgage instead.

I agree that the "arbitrary" nature of inheritance does fly in the face of the traditional mantra of hard work will be rewarded. You can work your fingers to the bone but if your parents are from, say, Nelson in Lancashire (just googled UK's cheapest place to live!) you are not going to be able to compete with someone whose parents and grandparents live in Beaconsfield. That's all very well if you want to live in Nelson too, but if you want to work in a London-y sector, you're stuffed.

Yes Irma - Of course inheritance has always been arbitrary in a way - child of nineteenth century factory worker got nothing, child of peer got landed estate! But I think what will give rise to ever more discontent about it is that people working in the same place, same educational background etc, will have such different inheritances.

eg three teachers in same school - one inherits half the Beaconsfield house (less iht), one inherits a quarter of the Nelson house, and the third inherits none of the Gerrards Cross house because all the proceeds went on the dparents' care home. The differences between the three will run to hundreds of thousands of pounds - more, even, as house prices have risen so sharply. I think it's likely that eventually, discontent from the non-inheritors will lead to pressure on political parties to act. (The discontent isn't politics of envy either - the fact that significant numbers of people will inherit large sums will put house prices up for everyone.)

We’re happy to let our parents live on THEIR money, we have worked very hard to take care of ourselves. Surely the news of the last day or so has shown that money can’t buy happiness or protect anyone from grief.

It's not just care homes that take up inheritances.
Some of us are from council houses. Dh and I are. There was no houses to sell when our parents died. I had to clear mum's house out 2 weeks after her funeral. And I know no amount of money makes up for losing your parents, but the difference an inheritance would have made in our lives is huge.

I inherited from my mom along with four sisters. She did not go into a care home because I gave up my job and moved in with her for last four months of her life and nursed her through cancer along with my sisters. We made a rota and it was emotional and exhausting but bonded the sisters closer together. The first time we had all lived together since my eldest sister left home when she got married. My dh may not inherit from parents as his Dad is very sick and his Mum cares for him but it is likely one will need proceeds from house to fund care. We don't need the money but his brother is single and still lives at home so probably needs help although he pays very little keep to hos parents and has a lot of savings as rarely goes out.

My parents are very wealthy. I am renting in a run down area and skrimping by week by week. I’m certainly not ‘waiting to inherit’ and would rather have my parents alive and well!

Dh and I plan to downsize, buy a ground floor flat, and give each of our dds £250,000 towards a house once they’re in their late twenties/early thirties.

I don’t see the point in us sitting around in a massive empty house while they pour money down the drain renting indefinitely.

Apparently only 14% of people over the age of 80 go into a care home. I won’t be inheriting, as there’s no property or anything.

@ssd yes just one kid, which I tried to give the things I never had. All I've actually done is bring up an unappreciative spoilt brat.

Accountant 22, hopefully he'll mature and appreciate what you've done for him one day.

It's lovely to hear the PPs talk about how they helped their DC to get on the housing ladder. None of the babyboomers I know would help the younger generation. They took all the houses and all the wealth and kept them. Myself and DH have worked hard all our lives and have nothing. We will never get on the property ladder. It does make me bitter that a little bit of help with a deposit years ago could have set us up for life.

The stress of being broke all the time has led to health problems for myself and DH. PIL on the other hand lead stress-free comfortable lives with the best food and healthcare.

For this reason I doubt we will outlive the PIL, so it's a moot point.

Apparently only 14% of people over the age of 80 go into a care home.

That's on current figures, but more and more people are living longer and needing care. Both of my parents spent their final years in care, having developed dementia.

Depends on the parents' health. If they die in their 60s then the kids are quids in. For those who are "blessed" to live for 10/20/30 years with miserable debilitating degenerative diseases, nobody's a winner.

MyOpinionIsValid Wed 10-Jul-19 20:05:08
@Rachelover40

Mine won't be spent funding a care home, I'll be cared for at home as will my husband if we need it. We've both decided on that and there will be sufficient money to facilitate professional care. The only exception is if either of us become demented, go out at night in night clothes, are out of control, etc, then a specialist care home might be necessary but we sincerely hope not.

Don't ever be sure. A colleague, her DH just had an horrendous stroke, mid 50's left as a complete shell, no speech, no discernible thought, cant walk, double incontinent. She feels guilty as he has had to go into a specialist care home. Please don't say you've thought out all the scenarios because few of us do. Its funded for 8 weeks, there after she has to pay £2k per week - how much do you think it would cost for 24/7 care at home, to lift, turn, clean, feed, administer drugs - and it would be 2 handed care, he's a large bloke.

So @Rachelover have you got enough saved to pay for £100K care per annum for the next 40 years at home?

Me: Probably but am unlikely to live another forty years, I will be seventy at the end of this one.

I am terrified at the thought of a stroke and being helpless and incontinent. It's my worst nightmare for myself though I don't think about it all the time, I try to be positive. My husband is seventy now, he is still working part time. I worry about him becoming ill, he's a big chap.

My mother in law had Parkinsons, we cared for her at home but had a team of carers who came in and helped four times a day. I'm glad she was able to stay at home because, being profoundly deaf, she'd have found being in a strange place with people who didn't know her, absolute misery. She communicated well with us and her carers.

We never know what is around the corner.

DH gran is in a luxury home. All the money from their house sales is draining away - at the end of the day, they worked for it. One of the uncles wanted to put her in a cheaper one. My only concern is what happens if the cash is gone before Gran is. It's looking like a real possibility. None of us can afford the £6k a month to keep her in there.