Insider Today: Boomer inheritance illusion

October 18, 2023 • 5 min read

with Dan DeFrancesco

Good morning. US President Joe Biden is visiting Israel today. He had been due to also travel to Jordan to hold talks with Palestinian, Jordanian, and Egyptian leaders. However, the summit was canceled late on Tuesday following an explosion at a hospital in Gaza City. 

In today’s big story, we’re looking at why Gen Z and millennials banking on a big inheritance are in for a rude awakening.

What’s on deck:

But first, how much do you think they're leaving us?

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Chelsea Jia Feng/Insider

The big story

Your inheritance will stink

The economy has not been friendly to younger generations. 

From the Great Recession to the pandemic to an impossible housing market, many millennials and Gen Zers are in a tough economic spot. 

But there’s a lifeline down the road for some people, even if they don’t like to think about it: A healthy inheritance.

No one wants to consider a relative passing away, but our elders undeniably are sitting on a lot of wealth. Americans over 65 hold roughly $96.4 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve.

Such a substantial transfer of wealth seems like it would have a life-altering effect on a large swath of the population.

However, the chances of that money trickling down to the people banking on it aren’t high, writes Ann C. Logue for Insider. In reality, most of that money will be spent on long-term care and end-of-life costs for the people holding it.

Only the wealthiest 1% of Americans said they received an inheritance in the six figures, according to a 2019 study by the Fed. Meanwhile, people in the bottom 50% of the wealth-distribution scale received an average inheritance of $9,700. For families in the 51% to 90% range, the average inheritance was $46,000. 

And while that’s better than nothing, it also might be less than what people facing mounting student debt and an increasingly expensive housing market were hoping for.

Halfpoint Images/Getty Images

Inheritance is further complicated by how difficult a topic it is to discuss. 

Asking your parents how much they plan on leaving you when they die isn’t exactly a conversation starter at Thanksgiving. 

So, unless you’re one of the lucky few with an established trust, you’re essentially flying blind.

That type of uncertainty can pose problems, and not just because you were hoping for an inheritance check with a few more zeros. 

Understanding a parent’s financial situation can prove critical if they eventually require additional care. Health aids, assisted-living facilities, and nursing homes are costly.

Having a better sense of your potential inheritance, or lack thereof, could go a long way in easing future burdens.

3 things in

Markets

🔔 Before the opening bell: US stock futures fall early Wednesday as earnings season continues and traders await more key economic reports.

REUTERS/Ruben Sprich

1. BlackRock’s Larry Fink thinks you should be betting big on stocks right now. The CEO of the world’s largest asset manager said investors should be putting 80% of their portfolios into equities and hard assets, like real estate. One reason for a more concentrated investment approach: People are living longer and must tolerate more risks to support themselves.

2. Why younger people should start investing like boomers. Many analysts believe that yields on Treasury bonds will plateau, having spiked in recent weeks. That means now might be the right time for younger people to invest in an asset class that's traditionally been favored by older Americans.

3. Mortgage rates won’t stop climbing. The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage hit 7.92% on Tuesday, its highest mark in 23 years. It’s the latest bummer for a housing market that now stinks for both buyers and sellers.

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3 things in

Tech

Brandon Bell/Getty Images

1. What to expect from Tesla’s earnings. The EV company recently slashed its car prices multiple times and fell short of expectations for vehicle deliveries in the third quarter. So, all eyes are on the company as investors focus on profit margins and demand outlook.

2. Another big boost for AI models. A Google researcher, along with a Databricks exec and a UC Berkeley professor, published a research paper detailing how to significantly increase the amount of words an AI model can handle. Doing so means AI models could read entire codebases.

3. Microsoft and Amazon are about to cut a $1 billion megadeal. Internal documents reveal that Microsoft is preparing to bring on Amazon as a major client for its 365 suite. The document shows that Amazon purchased more than 1 million seats for the tools.

3 things in

Business

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images; Chelsea Jia Feng/Insider

1. The Morgan Stanley veteran who’s ready to be CEO — it just might be elsewhere. All eyes have been on two main candidates to succeed CEO James Gorman. But the quiet third contender is Dan Simkowitz, who one former managing director said is “actually the most CEO-esque of the three.”

2. These are the 10 Hollywood mergers and acquisitions that experts are predicting. Big entertainment companies are looking to sell their assets. Paramount has tried to sell BET, while Lionsgate is currently in the process of spinning off Starz. These are the other deals to expect.

3. Gen Z is quiet quitting because they saw millennials suffer. A Gen Zer specifically chose a job where she could quiet quit. She said she didn’t want to give her entire body and soul to a company, so spent over a year and a half quiet quitting a software job.

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The Insider Today team

Dan DeFrancesco, senior editor and anchor, in New York City. Diamond Naga Siu, senior reporter, in San Diego. Hallam Bullock, editor, in London. Lisa Ryan, executive editor, in New York.

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