New research reveals that millennials appear to be massively incorrect about when they’ll receive inheritance from their parents and how much it’ll be.
Millennials are people who were born between 1981 and 1996.
Charles Stanley, investment management firm, conducted the survey of around 1000 UK millennials and 1000 parents. It gives us insights into what millennials expect from inheritance money and also what the reality is…
Millennials inheriting from parents – what the survey found
The research says the amount that millennials expect to receive is, on average, £129,380. However, official statistics showed that the average inheritance is just £48,000 and the median only £11,000.
This will significantly affect their ability to get on the property ladder. Inheritance of £11,000 would allow first-time buyers to afford a deposit on a property in only 43% of the country. So relying on inheritance for buying a house is a risky idea…
David Thomas, Legal Assistant at our Abbeydale Road office, who is a millennial himself, shared his thoughts on the findings.
He said: “To be honest, the statistics for what the actual average amount of inheritance received is, and the average age people receive it, doesn’t surprise me at all.
“What surprises me is that some people expect £129,000!
“From a personal viewpoint, I know any inheritance I get will be minimal and probably won’t even cover a deposit on a house, as my parents have split up and neither own their own property anymore following their divorce, and they don’t have many savings”, he added.
Dreaming of a first home
One in seven people of this age group expect to inherit money by the age of 35. Yet the reality is that it’s likely to be over two decades later than this.
Yet the majority of millennials think their inheritance age will be 50, which is still a little earlier than the actual predicted age. Researchers discovered that the average age that today’s millennials are likely to inherit money will be 61.
David is somewhat more accurate with his expected inheritance age, he said: “Any inheritance from grandparents will normally go to their children first, so given that people nowadays seem to be living longer than they used to, I would not expect to receive any inheritance until 50 or 60 anyway.”
It’s worth taking into account that the average pension age in the UK is 55. Therefore, millennials who plan on using inherited cash as a deposit could be retired by the time they buy their first home.
But David concluded that buying your first home is seeming more and more of a “pipe dream”. He explains that this is due to increasing inheritance age and high rents which prevent people from saving for a deposit.
