Thanks to the financial crisis many people will have to reconsider the legacy they'll leave behind.
Ross Schmidt, a financial advisor in Denver, sat down with a well-to-do client last fall, just after the stock market had collapsed. The client was in her sixties, divorced, with two adult sons. "We were scrambling to stem losses in her portfolio" and re-evaluate retirement plans, Mr Schmidt recalls. He asked his client how much she wanted to leave her sons.
"Well, now, nothing," she replied.
She will not be the last to reach this decision -- especially if the stock market stays down.
Millions of families are struggling with new financial realities, including heavy losses in many retirement accounts, and more prosaic expectations for future investment returns. Those near retirement face the hardest choices. Should they keep working for longer? Revise their retirement plans? Scale back their standard of living now to conserve money for later?
One idea that should be in the mix, much to the dismay of your children: Leave less to your heirs. Or even nothing at all.
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