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I recently saw this advice column where a 73-year-old woman wondered whether to gift money to her kids instead of letting them inherit, and it made me think of my friend R, and I thought we should discuss. Have you inherited any money, yet — or been gifted money in lieu of inheritance? What have you done with the money? (If you’re older, do you plan on gifting your kids large amounts of money?) How old were you when you received the money, and what kind of difference did it make in your life?
This made me think of my friend R because I clearly remember her getting gifts (I thought of $20,000ish, but that memory is probably incorrect) when we were in our early 20s. She was already incredibly frugal and careful with her money, so pretty much every penny of these gifts went to her savings. Within a few years, she had enough for a downpayment on an adorably tiny studio on the Upper East Side. She stayed in that studio until she had her son, and sold it for about 3x the price she’d paid.
Another friend just lost both her parents in the space of a year or two, and her husband happened to mention how much they’re both so much less stressed about money now that they saw how much her parents left to them. Her parents had already sold my friends their house for a discounted rate, which removed another layer of worry for them also.
What are your experiences with this, readers — have you inherited money, or gotten monetary gifts in lieu of inheritance? Do you get regular 5-figure checks from your parents, such as at holiday time? How have you used the money? Do you plan to do the same for your children if you can?
Stock photo via Pexels / Karolina Kaboompics.
