Posted on 02/05/2026 3:59:48 AM PST by where's_the_Outrage?
Isabella and Lorenzo are siblings who have faced financial difficulties throughout adulthood. Both are in their 30s — Isabella’s a divorced mom of three, Lorenzo’s a married father of two — and they’re barely making ends meet. Let’s say they have only a few thousand dollars in savings between them.
She inherited a home and a substantial amount of money when her own mother died, making her a multi-millionaire, and she was also the beneficiary of a life insurance policy when her husband (Isabella and Lorenzo’s father) passed away five years ago. After her husband died, the mother sold the family home, which had greatly appreciated in value since they bought it 40 years ago.
That’s why Isabella was shocked when, on a recent phone call, her mother told her that she planned to spend every cent she had before she died — leaving nothing in her will to her two children. Her mother said she wanted to enjoy her golden years to the fullest and had crafted a “die with zero” budget that would ensure she spent all her money.
Isabella thinks their mom is being selfish, while Lorenzo is worried she’s being reckless. Should the siblings confront their mother about her retirement plans?
Some billionaires have famously declared that they won’t leave their substantial fortune to their children.
Laurene Powell Jobs, wife of the late Steve Jobs, intends to pass on her estimated $14.9 billion to charity. Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have set up the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative for research and intend to give 99% of their Meta shares away. Warren Buffett and Bill Gates have also famously stated that their children should make their own way in the world, with Gates noting, “leaving kids massive amounts of money is not a favor to them
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
Well, your wife married an older man and doesn’t have to “work”. She (and perhaps her daughter) naturally believes that money comes from family rather than work. You have to break that connection because it leads to misery. Money comes from work or a result of it.
That whole “money comes from family” is rampant in my family which is why I don’t live near them.
Biblically and historically, before the welfare state, children were supposed to help parents in old age!
Teaching them to be moral is as important as leaving them an inheritance, but an inheritance is not unimportant.
The mom isn't dead yet.
My FIL worked hard to leave everything to his wife but he outlived her.
We ended up taking care of him his last 5 years because he had dementia and the last few years, took him into our home. We used his money to get him the best equipment, devices, nutrition and daytime caregivers to make him as comfortable as possible. We didn’t take a penny for our own efforts and gave a line by line financial breakdown of everything of his we spent, every month and what it was for.
My husband’s sister, who called her father only once in those five years complained we were spending her inheritance, which was a waste since he didn’t know the difference. She thought we should put him in a nursing home and let Medicare cover it. 😡
We still ended up with a decent bit leftover which got divided up among the three kids, but she still complained.
I have seen bumper stickers saying, “I am spending my children’s inheritance.”
I keep seeing these kinds of stories on You Tube, all the time.
Something about Del Boca Vista
Phase III or IV?
Or the bumper sticker on an RV: we are spending our children’s inheritance.
Muzzies are married by that age.
I’ll go against the trend and say yes, the mother is being selfish. Her grandchildren are living in financial instability and these are trying times. I don’t think she should go without in order to leave them something, but to deliberately fritter away millions? On what? Cruises and expensive purses? It almost seems hostile... her stated goal seems to be to ensure that her descendants get nothing. Moreover, this isn’t money she earned herself, it’s money that was passed down, or earned by her husband, or paid out by insurance. She sounds like a dreadful person. I would not do something like that.
Good for you. I imagine the sister who wanted his money never lifted a finger to help in his care.
This is the way it goes many times.
Even if you’re pushing 70, Mom and Dad might have different ideas for the wealth of their estate as far as you’re concerned. To just assume that you’d be a shoo-in for a wealthy inheritance is probably unwise. If your expectations are realistic, you should already have a plan of your own.
We paid for their college/trade school as long as they picked good careers and asked people already working those careers which training would actually help. Three of the four still invest their paychecks — I’m certain of two of them because they text me to do it for them. One of them does it on his own and asks me for advice every now and then.
As far as living on investments in retirement: the argument of having nothing left when we die vs leaving some for inheritance. My wife and I will withdraw 4% per year (I’m quasi retired). It’ll grow on average more than we withdraw. So if we live to be over 100 we’ll still have money to live on. As a side effect, that’ll leave some for inheritance anyway. Besides, the one who is a nurse will probably be taking care of us.
My mom's older brother who never had kids socked away a good bit of cash left most of it to my mom when he passed. She then decided to "reward" those two with a vastly smaller share of her money. HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!! They would have been better off - even financially - had they simply acted decently in the first place instead of being greedy, jealous and nasty. They ended up excommunicated from the rest of the family and got less money.
I never felt that my parents "owed" me anything. I was never entitled to a plug nickel from them. The money they earned was theirs and they could do with it what they pleased. It was not my place to complain whatever they decided.
However:
1. Does helping an old age parent obligate 'children' to live affluently from the resources of the aged?
2. Do the parents require that their wealth be transferred upon death totally, or even minimally, to the 'children'?
You are 70 and your daughter is 12?
Holy cow, you got some lethal Go Juice!
You’re the Man. :)
those kids dont “deserve” anything. She doesn’t owe them a penny if they are grown.
One of the greatest gifts parents can give their offspring is the ability and knowledge to be independent and self-sufficient.
yep, it is just a stunt. Avoids taxes and gives children a cushy job paying huge amounts forever.
No.
Your mother knows you are a worthless no count, and that leaving the money to a charity is the highest and best disposition
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