I think it must be some kind of middle upper class wishful thinking. I bet that most folks don't know just how freaking expensive it is to die, or what the reality of the older generation's money situation is.
My uncle passed last month; he owed my aunt for a short term loan she made him early this year. My mom told my aunt not to cash the check he post dated for her, because she (my mom) needed to pay off as much of his bills as possible. {She told me yesterday that one day in the ER, right at the end of his life, cost $39,000.}
I've always known that the only inheritance I'll get from my parents is in the form of stuff. My great great grandmother's salt cellar, the peddle organ, some other random heirlooms and whatnot. Things that are not to be sold or traded away for anything at all ever. But a big lump o money? Yeah, no.
It was a big deal that my mom found paperwork among my uncles stuff for a life insurance policy he purchased in 1976. If he paid on it, it'll be worth $20,000, and go to her. It's like, whoa. That's a surprise. And every penny of that will go to paying my parents bills, like their mortgage and car payments.
So, I suspect that a lot of people are living in a happy dream world where their parents have a lot of money just there, to help them out and leave them in a big vault they'll be able to swim in like Scrooge McDuck. There's this idea that our parents are better at this whole adulthood thing than we are, and that they'll take care of us after they're gone even. To which I say: ha. I wish.
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chiming
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Date: 2012-04-08 07:24 pm (UTC)From:My uncle passed last month; he owed my aunt for a short term loan she made him early this year. My mom told my aunt not to cash the check he post dated for her, because she (my mom) needed to pay off as much of his bills as possible. {She told me yesterday that one day in the ER, right at the end of his life, cost $39,000.}
I've always known that the only inheritance I'll get from my parents is in the form of stuff. My great great grandmother's salt cellar, the peddle organ, some other random heirlooms and whatnot. Things that are not to be sold or traded away for anything at all ever. But a big lump o money? Yeah, no.
It was a big deal that my mom found paperwork among my uncles stuff for a life insurance policy he purchased in 1976. If he paid on it, it'll be worth $20,000, and go to her. It's like, whoa. That's a surprise. And every penny of that will go to paying my parents bills, like their mortgage and car payments.
So, I suspect that a lot of people are living in a happy dream world where their parents have a lot of money just there, to help them out and leave them in a big vault they'll be able to swim in like Scrooge McDuck. There's this idea that our parents are better at this whole adulthood thing than we are, and that they'll take care of us after they're gone even. To which I say: ha. I wish.