What are your plans for your stash after you're dead?

[Shane]

Are you planning on spending your entire stash during your lifetime and dying broke? If not, who are you planning on giving your remaining stash to and why?

For those of us invested in high percentages of stocks and planning on using a <4% withdrawal rate, statistically our stashes are likely to grow and become much bigger by the time we die. What's the best thing to do with all that money? Give it to our kids? Charity? Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation? :)

[arebelspy]

Charity for us.

Only exception is if we have a child with special needs, then a trust fund for them.  If our child(ren) is healthy (regardless of level of "success"), they'll know they aren't getting any inheritance.

[2ndTimer]

Some for family.  The rest for Rails to Trails

[jim555]

Spend it to zero.  Will I actually do this?  Probably not.  After decades of frugality it is not easy to shift from frugal mode to spending mode.
I have a pension and SS, together they should be enough from 70+.  So I should spend everything down by age 70 and die broke.

[Sofa King]

After me and the wife kick the bucket 100% will be going to a local no-kill animal shelter.

[SirFrugal]

I plan on spending my stash down on booze and hookers when I get older, so I'll eventually just be living off SS and a small pension.  That will suffice though, because I'll still be frugal and not need much...but man the years I'm spending down the stash on booze and hookers are going to be good ones.

[Frugalman19]

I've seen inheritance ruin so many familys. We plan to donate all of it. Unless we have end up have crazy responsible children who don't need it, then we might leave it to them.

[Cassie]

kids but we hope to have spent most of it having fun.

[barbaz]

Seriously, if my family started hating each other over my money, they didn't deserve it any better. But yeah, unless there is a particular reason to give larger amounts to someone, most should go to charity.

[Shinplaster]

We hope to have fun spending most of it down, but that would mean we live until at least 95.  If we die sooner, anything that is left will be split between our son and a training facility for seeing eye/therapy dogs in a town nearby.

[trailrated]

I want to set up a scholarship to cover random people's tuition that deserve it.

[big_owl]

Ours goes to the Nature Conservancy.  This has caused some consternation with people I've told so I generally avoid the subject when asked anymore.

[Yankuba]

Singularity - going to live forever. If not, kids and grandkids.

[Dollar Slice]

Probably charity. I have no kids and only one nephew who is the only grandchild of two very wealthy sets of grandparents and has four childless aunts... so I kinda figure he'll be more than set.

If I die suddenly, my accounts at Vanguard will go to my brother, or if he wasn't around it goes to his son. I figure at an early age it would be useful for college expenses, or my brother could pay off his mortgage or something.

I've been saying for years that I want to be a philanthropist when I grow up, so likely I will be giving my money away before I die. :-)

[Erica]

We are planning on giving the 200 thousand to our son. That's about how much we'll inherit this next year or so.

Also we will be buying some land and placing a house or two on it within the next few years. So eventually that will be his also

We sold our home about a year ago to move here to care for hubbys elderly parents. Mom's passed, Dad is in hospice

I will also try to save at least 30% of my earnings until mid  working until 60's. So he should get that.

The world will only get worse so I want my loved ones, son and future grandkids, to be set... as much as possible

[Villanelle]

Most of it will go to charity, with the bulk of that going to our local zoo, and a few military-focused charities second.

We have no children.  We may leave some to DH's niece and nephew, but as of right now, we haven't done that.  It's a somewhat complicated situation and we haven't decided yet.  It would probably be in the range of $25k to $50k per kid, which would likely be a year or two of college. 

The sibling on one side won't care.  The sibling on the other likely will be upset, assuming the siblings outlive us.  That's not a concern, because it's not money to which they are actually entitled in any way, and because I'll be dead so what do I really care about it?

[johnny847]

If I have kids, then all of it to my kids.

Otherwise, charity. Which charitable causes? Not sure. I'm sure I'll change my mind on this several times throughout my life.

[Unkempt Stash]

I'm not sure. Step one, get stash.

If I were to guess, I'd say kid until she is through college. After that probably either the wikipedia foundation or a wildlife rehabilitation group.

[Gin1984]

College for grandkids, if no grandkids, college scholarships.

[lostamonkey]

If I get married and she survives me, then spouse.
If I outlive a future spouse, divorce, or never get married then children if I have any.
If I don't have a spouse or children, then my parents.
If I don't have a spouse or children and my parents are dead then my sibling.
If I don't have a spouse or children, and my parents and sibling are dead, then my sibling's children if she has any.
If all of the above are dead or don't exist, then closest living relative.

[muckety_muck]

Currently they are mostly set to go to my parents in trust for guardianship and the needs of our kids, should something happen to us before they reach 18.

Beyond that, we haven't decided. It will depend on a number of things. Are our kids responsible enough to leave it alone and not spend it crazily? (I was this type of kid, but my siblings were not)... Do the kids have a love for pets or outdoors or a disease that they are passionate about? Would they want to set up a small foundation or endowment related to one of these?

Granted - I have a hard time with this. Our parents certainly did not have tons of $$$$$ set aside to go to us at 18 or whatever age, had they died early. So I'm sure it's a huge burden and the potential for them to BLOW IT ALL certainly exists. But. IF our kids turn out to be responsible hard-working, forward-thinking individuals, I would love for them to start and maintain a charity that they are PASSIONATE about rather than give all the money to a charitable organization that is already set up and get our names on a brick somewhere. It's not millions of $$$ anyway, but it's enough to start with.

[okits]

I've seen inheritance ruin so many familys. We plan to donate all of it. Unless we have end up have crazy responsible children who don't need it, then we might leave it to them.

My hope is that we'll have at least one child who is like us (frugal, responsible, hopefully interested in investing, tax planning, etc.) who could be a steward and turn our stash into generational wealth to benefit the entire family (i.e. to be spent on education, outsized health-related/medical bills, enable a really gifted child to pursue a talent, a safety net so no one goes under for lack of modest resources.  Not for flashy, frivolous consumption.)  It's a nice thought, we'll see if it happens.  If not, moderate cash inheritance per kid, then charity for the rest.

We only have one kid, so far, and she's still in diapers so the above would be a long way off.  If we both die before our offspring are adults the whole lot goes towards paying for their upbringing (we have family who will take them in but want to eliminate any financial burden on them if they end up raising our kids.)

Hopefully we don't end up leaving a lot behind because we over-saved.  That would mean we traded too much time for money, not good.

[azure975]

Great topic! This is on my mind a lot. I'm very involved in animal rescue so the bulk of our estate will be going to animal charities (I would prefer that all of it does but my husband wants a little bit to go to our nephews). I have been thinking a lot about which organizations can utilize the money in the best way. There was animal shelter in my city that was established from a trust left by an old rich lady, but the trustees lived in another state and the shelter ended up being badly mismanaged and had to be shut down. For that reason I'd like to leave it to an established, well-run organization, but that can be difficult to assess. There are also different facets of animal welfare that I'm interested in--spay/neuter initiatives, humane farming practices, helping poor people keep their pets, etc. I've been reading a lot about the effective altruism movement which uses data and statistics to quantify how your money can be best used for charity. I'm still pondering the options.

[SwordGuy]

Some immediate money for our son.  A trust for our mentally handicapped daughter, which would disburse to our son or his heirs on our daughter's death.

Some charity, with the rest going to a trust that will pay for education for our descendants and small amounts during the year.  I'm trying to work out how to do it, but the idea is that it would only pay out when its value is up, and never more than 1/2 of what profit it made.  If values dropped, it would not pay out again until values reached the high water mark of prior values.   It would never, initial education excepted, pay out more than 1/4th the median family income to any descendant's family.  That way, in theory, it would never run out of money and would never dump so much money on someone that it would ruin them.  But, it would help them get ahead in life by providing for education and a payout that would help them lead a better life.

Darned if I know if it's possible to write something up like that.  I'll find out once I hit FI and have time to pursue it.

[HPstache]

I would give about 3/4 to my kid and future kid(s) and the final 1/4 to my church.

[Bertram]

Charity for us.

Only exception is if we have a child with special needs, then a trust fund for them.  If our child(ren) is healthy (regardless of level of "success"), they'll know they aren't getting any inheritance.

I have been thinking about this as well for a long time, but it seems like I can't fully commit to it. I am assuming the idea behind your decision is similar to mine, that you do this "for the kids", i.e. you don't want them to be spoiled or have it too easy, because it would teach the wrong behavior. You want them to make it on their own and no matter where they end up financially, they'll be a better person for it.
But then again that assumes there is a level playing field and everybody gets a fair shot, I don't find that to really be the case.  We are all blessed with different talents and different opportunities, and not everyone gets the lucky timing to make theirs count. An important part of success (be it financial or otherwise) is to be able to get back up and keep trying. And I feel almost like it would be "unfair" to not provide this chance to kids if you easily could.

Like I said I am torn on this and can never settle on a decision.

[Greenroller]

We have a goal of leaving everything to our children so long as they are responsible good hearted people. I have no plan B as for now because they are such good responsible kids. I hope not to spend any of my initial investments and be able to leave it for my kids. My fire date would be a lot closer if the plan was to not leave them anything, but I just don't feel good about that.

[former player]

No kids, so it will go to my nearest, beloved, relative.  If I survive my relative, some family stuff goes to my cousins, half my net worth will be divided among four lifelong friends and the rest goes to charity.

[arebelspy]

Charity for us.

Only exception is if we have a child with special needs, then a trust fund for them.  If our child(ren) is healthy (regardless of level of "success"), they'll know they aren't getting any inheritance.

I have been thinking about this as well for a long time, but it seems like I can't fully commit to it. I am assuming the idea behind your decision is similar to mine, that you do this "for the kids", i.e. you don't want them to be spoiled or have it too easy, because it would teach the wrong behavior. You want them to make it on their own and no matter where they end up financially, they'll be a better person for it.
But then again that assumes there is a level playing field and everybody gets a fair shot, I don't find that to really be the case.  We are all blessed with different talents and different opportunities, and not everyone gets the lucky timing to make theirs count. An important part of success (be it financial or otherwise) is to be able to get back up and keep trying. And I feel almost like it would be "unfair" to not provide this chance to kids if you easily could.

Like I said I am torn on this and can never settle on a decision.

Yeah, and they already have such a tilted playing field via their birth, education, etc... How does giving them millions when they're middle aged help also?  When it could help so many more people and even the playing field for them.

My kid will already have so many advantages, in no way would it be unfair not to give them millions of dollars also.  It would be unfair to all those other people if I did. ;)

[mohawkbrah]

don't understand the inclination people feel to give all their hard earned money to charity. Especially since most charity's are inefficient and will siphon most of the cash for themselves before redistributing it.


Id probably keep it in the family and become generational "old money" and be like the rothsteins (someday eh?)

[arebelspy]

don't understand the inclination people feel to give all their hard earned money to charity. Especially since most charity's are inefficient and will siphon most of the cash for themselves before redistributing it.

I'd rather it help some than none.

Further, just because "most" charities are like this, doesn't mean all are.  You get to CHOOSE which you give to, it's not like randomly distributed or something.  So that's not a good reason not to help others, IMO.

[Bateaux]

I hope we only spend a 10th of our savings and the rest goes to St Jude's Children's Resarch Hospital.

[goatmom]

Probably Food for the Poor.  Maybe some for a child if there is some sort of special need - otherwise - no.

[Squirrel away]

Animal charities, probably distributed through a few of the ones I like.

[Doubleh]

Some interesting thoughts here but I actually think most people here are thinking way too small. The suggestions like local hospital and animal shelter are great, but I think people are massively underestimating the amount of money they will have left. I seem to recall that most here are planning to retire with a stache of at least half a million dollars, in many cases a million or more. And most people are looking at a 4% swr or even more conservative than that, and often ignoring likely tailwinds like post FIRE earnings or social security.

Remember that the 4% withdrawal rate is based on something like a 90% expectation of success, but the simulations show the vast majority of portfolios with a terminal value much higher than the starting value. The upshot of this is that many people here will eventually leave behind millions of 2015 dollars at when they pass away.

To my mind this is the largely unexplored next stage of FIRE - legacy planning, and could be a big part of how people get their purpose after retirement. OK few of us will be working at the level of the Gates or Zuckerberg foundations, but with that kind of money we can move beyond supporting work we admire and into the realm of really changing the world.

Let's take for the sake of argument that your main concern is the environment and climate change. For a couple of million you could endow a chair (professorship) at a prestigious university with a remit to work on environmental issues. Or a scholarship for poor students to study climate science. Or you could establish a million dollar prize for commercially viable carbon sequestration technology.

If you could move beyond the individual and pool resources with a few likeminded friends - or even a couple of thousand via something like an MMM foundation you could really start to make a difference

[HappyMargo]

After me and the wife kick the bucket 100% will be going to a local no-kill animal shelter.

That is exactly what DH & I have planned to do as well!

We have no children.  Our nieces & nephews are all college educated and equipped to take care of themselves. 

We have for more than 25 years adopted & fostered abandoned/ unwanted animals. These wonderful animals have brought great joy & many laughs to our lives.  We will gladly continue our support of no-kill shelters after we've passed on.

[Bertram]

If you could move beyond the individual and pool resources with a few likeminded friends - or even a couple of thousand via something like an MMM foundation you could really start to make a difference

Yeah, but that's exactly why people want to give it to a charity. Likeminded people with a common goal.
Why is founding a charity a better alternative in your mind? Especially if you are not around and someone else will call the shots anyway?

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

We do not have a stash to speak of at this time. My grandfather, however, plans to leave behind a multi-million dollar fortune (more Millionaire Next Door than Mustachian). My understanding is that it will be divided amongst the children with the understanding that it should be used to fund college educations indefinitely. It paid for mine. It is already paying for my kids'. (All the great-grands get $2K a year in their 529s.)

He used to say that he would pay only for undergraduate education. But the money kept growing, and the grandchildren grew up, procreated, were broke, and wanted graduate degrees, and he stepped in. (I paid a couple semesters of mine myself, got some scholarships, he picked up a few.) My sister, a nurse, is the sole breadwinner for a family of five--no way can she fund her own doctoral degree, so he's picking up the tab.

Although I'm pretty sure my mom plans to enjoy SOME of it... Earlier this year she bought herself a brand-new, fully-loaded 2015 Sorrento with a seven-year no-interest loan. And she's retiring after this year. Sounds like someone knows her father isn't going to live forever... (I have to admit, it's a SWEET ride.)

[matchewed]

Charity; something along the lines of helping others get educated in different countries where they might not have the resources to do so. Haven't researched enough to do so yet.

[Frugalman19]

don't understand the inclination people feel to give all their hard earned money to charity. Especially since most charity's are inefficient and will siphon most of the cash for themselves before redistributing it.


Id probably keep it in the family and become generational "old money" and be like the rothsteins (someday eh?)

My thoughts are, id rather have it go to help some, than potentially ruin the relationships in my family. Inheritance could be a very dangerous thing for families. I know from personal experience as well as through my job. My mother inherited $300k and she had never made over $35k in a year in her life. She spent $220k in 9 months, and all of her relatives took advantage of her. She is no longer on speaking terms with them, it's so sad.

My boss, who is a mustachian and doesn't know it, is 58 and has 3-4 million in his retirement (I know because I manage it). His trust states that the trustee will evaluate his children until they are 60!! At that point they can have the principal if they have their head on straight. In the meantime they will have access to income if they need it for ascertainable standards (health, education, maintinence or support) not to exceed the federal poverty line. The remaining income goes to fund a scholarship. 

I think it's genius.

[kpd905]

At least half to my favorite charity, maybe more.  I don't have any kids yet, so whether they get any would probably depend on how responsible they are.

[Orvell]

Wow. This is an interesting thread...

I don't yet have a will, and I don't have an SO or dependents, but I would plan on having my money go to my younger brother.

I would not stipulate it. He's an alcoholic, so yes, that could end up going very badly. But I'm dead in this scenario. I choose to believe it could also help. It certainly won't affect me and it could be a huge boon to someone I care about. I'm not going to make a bunch of rules about it.

[wenchsenior]

Ours goes to the Nature Conservancy.  This has caused some consternation with people I've told so I generally avoid the subject when asked anymore.

WTH? Why would this caused consternation? People are so weird.

We are also planning on donating to Nature Conservancy, and setting up a scholarship at (most likely) our alma mater.

[Moostache]

Whatever is left goes to my niece/adopted sister who lost her mother when she was less than a year old.  My parting gift will be to make certain that she is still taken care of.

[soccerluvof4]

Depends on how long I live and if my kids give us grand kids. With 4 kids if anything left will be divided amongst 4 so probably not much but if the start having kids we will re-work it to go to there schooling or something of that nature.

[turketron]

My brother is the beneficiary on all my retirement accounts but I'm going to add my parents as well. They're living comfortably as it is, but my younger sister has a mental disability, and while she has a job and is making progress towards being more independent she'll most likely rely on my parents at least somewhat for the rest of her life.

[Well Respected Man]

One thing I've been thinking about for a combination legacy/living expenses/tax avoidance strategy is to give half of my annual income to my selected charity (financial aid fund at my high school). I haven't run any numbers on it, but I think that it would allow me to pay very little tax each year, and maximize the amount given to the charity. Giving appreciated securities would be even better for the tax situation.

Maybe those remainder trusts already take this into account, not sure. Anyway, I'll wait till the kids are done with college before making a change. Currently everything goes to my wife, and if we both are dead, to the kids.

[iris lily]

I subscribe to the Die Broke philosophy, which means spend your last penny on the day you die. That may mean charitable giving while I am still alive, it doesn't mean hedonistic spending on myself.

But since I don't know when I will die, and I have a spouse who likely will outlive me, we will be writing a will that puts all of it into a trust. If we die suddenly, our estate will be split among our siblings and key organizations like Bulldog rescue and the Conservancy for our neighborhood park.

[hops]

Charity, with the same exception as arebelspy.

If we're fortunate enough to live normal lifespans and invest at the rate we anticipate (once student loans have been nuked), we could potentially build enormous wealth because my SO's going into a high-paying field and doesn't want to retire early. Neither of us considers leaving that much money to our future kids acceptable when it could help so many more lives if directed elsewhere, and our dream is to start donating serious sums while we're still alive to see our money put to work.

I also have a sibling who will probably need to live in a facility after our parents die, and if that happens we'll set up a fund to help take care of it.

[Spork]

We've really had a difficult time answering this question.  In general, we want some small amount of money that will pay for our animals to live in the cushy conditions they're used to until they die of natural causes.  Then we'd probably send the rest to some local animal organization. I really feel like thats where an amount like our stash would make a significant difference.  Sure it helps in a big organization, but grass roots orgs would be knocked over if they ended up getting a 6 figure sum.

Our issue is that the local organizations seem to come and go... and management will change making today's "desirable" organization undesirable.  This has really kept us from having a will made -- and that is a lousy excuse.  We just need to buckle down and do it and force ourselves to re-evaluate and update it every so many years.