WHERE THERE IS A "WILL" THERE IS A WAY- ABOUT THAT INHERITANCE KIDS...

Where there is a "will" there is a way, about that inheritance kids....  Are our children going to inherit nothing more than overwheliming debt as our legacy?  The question many of us Baby Boomers are asking ourselves in this tumultous economy.  As job losses rise, unemployment benefits now reach over the two year mark, and costs inch higher on basic durable goods. 

The family homestead used to be passed down through the generations. It was once said you were 50% more likely to die within 50 miles of where you were born. That is less true today. Urban crawl is Nationwide. Peole will go where the jobs are. If there are not high tech jobs available here, they go where they can find them, and as a result are less likely to return to where they once came from.

SUBSIDIZE TO DEMISE

Senior Citizens on fixed incomes will not be gettting their costs of living increases, their Medicaid benefits have also taken a hard hit. Prescription plans seem to fall short and they are strategically looking at how and where they spend money.  Many have explored the option of a reverse mortgage to subsize themselves in their golden years and take the stress over ever increasing expenses such as taxes, elelctricity, food and pharmacy needs. Homes long pay for, can provide a comfortable retirement nest egg for them with repayment decades beyond their life expectancy.

An 85 year lady not wishing to be a burden on her children, obtained a reverse mortgage on her condo for $224,000.At the peak of the market boom) The satisfaction date on the mortgage is 2074- making her 149 years old at the time the loan will be paid off.  Her kids are unaware she has remortgaged the condo, so when her estate is in probate, they may be in for a real surprise.  She did however use some of the money to pre-pay her funeral expenses. 

Her children are approaching senior citizen status in their own right. The housing market which may have been their pension plan has taken a severe hit over the past few years as well. Compounded with the absence of pension plans, dimished long term savings and a volitile stock market, many of these aging kids are worried about their long term financial stability. Little do they realize, the condo Mom had, is already spoken for.

BIRDS OF A FEATHER...FLOCK TOGETHER

The babyboomers are a generation on the move. Now entering their golden years, they are exploring their options and realizing as consumers their money does not buy what their parents money did a generation before.  Less are able to save.  More are in debt and their children will be worse off than they are now  for generations to come. Will extended family living make a comeback?  Perhaps it already has.

One of the options people are exploring in greater depths, is generational living. A room or add on for Grandma,  in- law suites, and properties where additions can be built  to accomodate elderly family members. Requests for these types of properties are ont he rise.  Rather than paying separtely for a place to live, combining resources, and elder care seems to be a growing trend.  It can be a very economical alternative.