Teresa Ghilarducci, Columnist

Go Ahead and Spend Your Children's Inheritance

It’s mostly the super-rich who can afford to leave money to their kids.

December 16, 2020 at 4:00 PM UTC

Corrected

December 17, 2020 at 5:25 PM UTC

Teresa Ghilarducci is the Schwartz Professor of Economics at the New School for Social Research. She's the co-author of "Rescuing Retirement" and a member of the board of directors of the Economic Policy Institute.

Not how most of us live.
Photographer: FPG/Getty Images

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

This article is for subscribers only.

Bold retirees sport the bumper sticker “I am spending my children’s inheritance.” The sentiment might seem selfish, but it’s good financial planning.

Trying to leave a bequest could put older people in a tight spot. Finance author Chris Farrell once told me about a panicked 83-year-old woman with four kids who was on track to run out of money in three years because she was trying to save for her kids’ inheritance. She is not atypical.