Should You Give Your Children Their Inheritance Early?
Things you might not have thought about
A Twitter post reminded me of my recent discussion with a friend.
The tweet was, “If you’re wealthy, give money to your kids while you’re still alive. A bit of money when they’re in their 20s or 30s can make a huge difference. But if you wait until you die of old age, they’ll be in their 50s or 60s and a windfall won’t make much of a difference.”
My friend said much the same thing. She believes waiting until parents die for children to inherit the estate means the children will be of retirement age themselves. By that time, they will have assets of their own. But if they get the money earlier, they can use it to buy homes and raise families.
Granted, the twitter writer appears to be talking about financial help rather than an entire inheritance, and he limits his discussion to wealthy parents. But what constitutes “a bit of money” and who qualifies as wealthy are relative and subjective.
Some people immediately think of billionaires when they talk about wealth. Others include millionaires in this category, and still others believe anyone living comfortably on a fixed income with considerable retirement assets is wealthy.
