Negative Inheritance and Ways to Avoid It

According to Marshall Eckblad, When Inheritance Is Negative, WSJ.com, Jan. 22, 2008:

People who don't prepare to care for their sick and aging parents could fall victim to what economists call "negative inheritance."

If the term seems foreign, the scenario it describes won't: It is when costs to children caring for their relatives outstrip any gifts or bequests they might receive in return.

To protect against the havoc a negative inheritance can wreak on a financial plan, financial advisers have developed detailed strategies, typically including a combination of family dialogue, long-term-care insurance and proactive management of the parents' remaining assets.***

"If you planned to withdraw 5% from your portfolio every year to support your lifestyle," says Joe Birkofer, a principal at Legacy Asset Management Inc. in Houston, "and then you increase that by 50%" to care for ailing parents, "your financial plan's a mess."***