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Kings Court Trust
Oct 2011
According to a recent HSBC survey ‘The Age of Inheritance’, the average legacy received today is £46,000, although half of all people who inherit actually receive under £10,000.
Those in the 45-54 age group expect to inherit an average of £108,384, with nearly half of the survey participants having already done so. However, people aged 16-24 only expect to inherit an average of £45,662.
The average amount left as inheritance will increase to an all-time high of £238,000 in 2047 as people currently aged between 45 and 55 pass on their estates to their children.
In that year alone, £1.1 trillion is expected to be left to beneficiaries. However, by 2062, when people who are currently under 34 retire, this number will have halved and dropped to £552 billion as inheritances are eroded by the rising cost of living and life expectancy (average inheritance of £155,000).
One of the key reasons cited for this dramatic decline is that the age at which people receive an inheritance is getting later, and is far less likely to be at a stage in their life when it is a priority to accumulate assets. The evidence suggests that the older you are in receiving an inheritance the more of it you are likely to spend on goods and services which store no value – holidays are favoured amongst responders.
By comparison, younger generations were more likely to invest their windfalls or put it towards items that store wealth, such as property, the poll of 2,000 people found.
Over a third (36 per cent) of the population with parents still alive does not know if their mother or father have a will or how they plan to distribute their estate, according to research from NS&I.
Top 10 uses for a windfall*
Regional Findings*
* source: "The Age of Inheritance" - HSBC, September 30 2011
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