My name is Mark Goodfield. Welcome to The Blunt Bean Counter ™, a blog that shares my thoughts on income taxes, finance and the psychology of money. I am a Chartered Professional Accountant. This blog is meant for everyone, but in particular for high net worth individuals and owners of private corporations. My posts are blunt, opinionated and even have a twist of humour/sarcasm. You've been warned. Please note the blog posts are time sensitive and subject to changes in legislation or law.

Monday, July 18, 2016

The Best of The Blunt Bean Counter- Inheriting Money - Are you a Loving Child, a Waiter or a Hoverer

This summer I am posting the "best of" The Blunt Bean Counter blog while I work on my golf game. Today, I am re-posting a June, 2014 blog post on how people act when they become aware they will inherit money from their parents or grandparents.

This topic is a bit controversial and the post became the basis for an article by Adam Mayers of the Toronto Star on inheritances, titled Inheritances are about love, money and greed.

Inheriting Money - Are you a Loving Child, a Waiter or a Hoverer


In February 2012, I wrote a blog post titled “Is it Morbid or Realistic to Plan for an Inheritance?”. I knew this was a touchy subject and would elicit various reactions from my readers. In the post, I stated that to “ignore the existence of a significant future inheritance that would impact your personal financial situation may be nonsensical” from a financial and retirement planning perspective.

Whether you believe you should plan for an inheritance or not, is your own personal decision. Today I want to deal with the behaviors and actions of those who stand to inherit money from their parents. Over the last 25 years, I have dealt with the tax, financial and psychological issues surrounding numerous client estates. I have observed the actions of those who will be the recipients of an inheritance and have found their behavior anywhere from fascinating to sickening.

I have found people who will inherit money fall into 4 groups:

1. The Loving Child

2. The Pragmatic Loving Child

3. The Waiters

4. The Hoverers

The Loving Child


For this group, their parents come first and money is secondary. Typically, these children are very close to their parents throughout their life and call and see them on a consistent basis, often weekly, or even daily. They have always helped their parents with their medical needs or in some cases with their financial needs, without giving it a second thought; because, their parents are well, their parents. This group would tell you they would give back any inheritance, if it allowed them another day to be with their parents and would consider it blasphemy to plan for an inheritance.

The Pragmatic Loving Child


This group is a subset of #1. These children love their parents and just want their parents to enjoy their lives, even if it means that they spend the children's inheritance. Children in this group may consider the reality that they will likely receive an inheritance. Even so, they do not want to take it into account in their planning and it is only at the insistence of an accountant or financial planner that they would even consider such.

The Waiters


I am not sure who coined this term, but I have seen it used many times. Waiters are described as children waiting for their parents to die, so that they can benefit from their parents assets. Waiters are considered to have a warped sense of entitlement to their parent’s money. I have observed several waiters over the years, some who went into debt to live a lifestyle based on an assumed inheritance. In my limited sample size, the children have always received their inheritance. However, one day I would love to see the face of a waiter when a lawyer informs them their parent decided to leave everything to charity instead of them.

The Hoverers


Hoverers are an even lower species than the waiters. These children often pay little or no attention to their parents their whole life, but when their parents get sick or older, they start hovering around. Many years ago one of my clients was very sick and was expected to pass away any day. I received a call from one of his children. I assumed the call was going to be the bad news that my client had passed away and the child was going to provide me the details of the funeral. The call was indeed to tell me their parent had passed away, but they were not calling to tell me about the funeral arrangements; their question to me was when they could start accessing their inheritance. I just felt sick to my stomach.

Don’t ask me why I decided to write about this topic. I guess as I have stated many times in my blog, I am just fascinated by how money affects people’s behavior. Thankfully, most people fall into the first two groups. If you are a Waiter or Hoverer, consider taking a good look at yourself in the mirror.

This site provides general information on various tax issues and other matters. The information is not intended to constitute professional advice and may not be appropriate for a specific individual or fact situation. It is written by the author solely in their personal capacity and cannot be attributed to the accounting firm with which they are affiliated. It is not intended to constitute professional advice, and neither the author nor the firm with which the author is associated shall accept any liability in respect of any reliance on the information contained herein. Readers should always consult with their professional advisors in respect of their particular situation.

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