Less than half of affluent parents (49 percent) in a nationwide poll felt it was important to leave a financial inheritance to the next generation, according to the U.S. Trust Insights on Wealth and Worth Survey.
Polling 457 high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals with $3 million or more in investable assets, the survey found that surprisingly few had well-developed plans to preserve and pass on their assets to either their children or charity in what is expected to be history’s largest transfer of wealth.
The survey also found:
• While 88 percent of the wealthy have an estate plan in place, nearly four-in-10 (or 39 percent) acknowledge that their estate plans are not comprehensive.
• Nearly half (48 percent) of wealthy individuals surveyed have not established a revocable trust, and seven-in-10 (72 percent) have no irrevocable trust, either. Three quarters (78 percent) do not have a life insurance trust and nearly nine-in-10 (88 percent) have not established a charitable trust.
• Some 43 percent do not have a financial plan that factors in the impact of long-term care and/or end-of-life healthcare costs on family wealth. Six-in-10 have no plan in place to care for aging relatives.
• One-in-10 has never discussed tax planning with their advisor, even though only one in three people surveyed strongly agrees that their investment portfolio is structured to minimize the impact of taxes.
• Only about 34 percent strongly agree that their children will be able to handle any inheritance they plan to leave them.
