A new analysis by AARP researchers contradicts projections by some experts of huge dollar transfers to boomers and other age groups through inheritances from parents.
For a boomer population increasingly fixated on financial security in retirement, the study’s findings could have important implications for estimating retirement needs.
As of 2004, the latest data available, 81% of boomers–those born between 1946 and 1964–had yet to receive an inheritance, according to the analysis of Federal Reserve figures by AARP’s Public Policy Institute.
Predictions of inheritance windfalls for baby boomers are overstated significantly, the study suggests. For instance, a widely quoted 1999 estimate by Boston College researchers projected boomers would inherit a total of $7 trillion.
According to the AARP’s Public Policy Institute estimate, however, the value of inheritances held by boomers as of 2004 totaled only $2.1 trillion.
Around 19% of boomers reported receiving at least one inheritance in 2004, up from 16% in a previous survey in 1989. Just 15% expected to receive an inheritance in the future, compared to 27% in the 1989 study.
AARP reports that 83% of boomers had living parents, compared with 98% of post-boomers and 22% of pre-boomers.