Don't agree with that at all. If you feel you need to leave your kids your hard-earned money, you likely did not do your job as a parent - which is to raise your kids to be self-sufficient and not parasites on society.
Nothing is more pathetic than to see middle-aged adults sitting around waiting for their elderly parents to kick off so that they can grab their "inheritance" and buy that new sports car or pay off those credit card bills (so they can run them right back up again). I've seen it happen too many times.
I also do not agree with the premise of the article which is to live like a pauper in your prime years so that you can vacation in Florida and play golf when your 75. Screw that, I'll eat steak today (while I still have my teeth) and if I am destined to eat mac and cheese and drive around in a beater of a car, I'll do it when I'm too old to care.
Lastly, can we please get off the whole "retirement" kick? I have absolutely no idea why so many people look forward to retirement and see it as their lifetime dream. Retirement is something to do when you are preparing to die. In the meantime, work as long as you can and contribute to society as long as you can. As you do so, live a little. Take the wife out to dinner on a regular basis, go on vacations while you are still young enough to enjoy them, drive that new car with the bells and whistles today - not when you're 75 and your kids are trying to get your license taken away because you drove up on the curb and ran over the mailbox one too many times while taking your weekly trip to CVS to fill your prescription medicines.
That is key to a long and rewarding life.
I agree with you partly (obviously). I’ll eat steak while I can chew it, drive a nice car if I care about it (I don’t) while I can still see, travel while I still have some energy.
Also about “retirement,” I agree, I plan to work productively, whether for money or as a volunteer, as long as I am capable. Which may be to my last day. I am all for taking breaks but I don’t want a life of indolence.
I disagree with you about inheritance, though. I think it depends upon your kids and how they were raised and how they turned out. If I had some sort of turkey kid that was sitting around waiting for me to die, they wouldn’t get anything.
However, inheritance is an important biblical concept and I at this point have a high regard for my children. I want to leave them a grubsteak, if I can, so they go forth and have dominion. A chunk of one-time money can be critical for major investments or positioning. I have it for a catastrophic need; if I don’t use it and die, I want them to have it and would die happy knowing I left them with something. I don’t see that as making them parasites.