[Eric Pode of Croydon]

If Social Security is your only source of income, you’re doing it wrong.

[grania]

Social Security is not my only source of income. There are those who depend on it. That's been made worse by the lower interest paid on savings. That means a lot of Seniors are burning through the principal to make ends meet.

They didn't do anything wrong. Until the economy collapsed, financial planners were telling them savings would pay at least 4% interest and riskier stocks and mutual funds would most probably do as well or better.

What many Seniors are resorting to are annuities and second mortgages. That's going to affect the wealth of future generations, since each one destroys a person's savings.

The best thing the generation that expects to inherit anything could do is sit down with the folks and have an honest discussion. It might make a lot of sense to help them rather than have all their assets taken over by vultures. Another possibility for the next generation is to pay for life insurance policies on their folks. I know that's harsh, put it might be the most realistic way to get some money passed on to the next generation.