美国婴儿潮一代将不留遗产

Yuki1230

Most young, wealthy Americans believe it's important to pass money on to their heirs. They may be disappointed to learn that their parents don't feel the same way.

In an annual survey of the wealthy released on Monday by US Trust, a division of Bank of America Corp, three-quarters of wealthy adults under age 46 said it's a priority to leave money for their kids.

But just 55 percent of Baby Boomers - those age 47 to 66 - said they share that sentiment. In fact, one of every three surveyed said they'd rather leave money to charity than to their kids.

Their reasoning? Some said they believe that each generation should create its own wealth, while others said it's more important to invest in children's success while they are growing up, according to the survey of 642 individuals who have at least $3 million in investable assets.

"Our survey points to a shift in generational behavior and outlook, most likely shaped by personal experience and societal responses to economic realities," said Keith Banks, president of US Trust.

Most of those surveyed don't even talk to their kids about money: just 37 percent said they've fully disclosed their net worth to their children. Those over age 67 said they weren't having this discussion because they were raised not to discuss money, while younger respondents said they didn't want to inhibit their kids' work ethic.

A few other highlights from the study:

* Six in 10 wealthy parents are not fully confident their children will be well-prepared to handle an inheritance. Baby Boomers have the least degree of confidence.

* Forty-two percent of Baby Boomers and 54 percent of those under age 46 are paying medical costs for their parents or other relatives.

* Two-thirds of those surveyed have not made, nor do they have plans to make, a monetary gift to family members to reduce the size of their taxable estate before the end of 2012, when tax laws are expected to change.

大多数年轻富有的美国人认为把财产传给后代很重要。如果知道自己的父母并不这么想，他们可能会感到失望。

美国银行的分支机构美国信托公司周一发布的一项富人年度调查发现，46岁以下的富有的美国成人有四分之三表示会优先把钱留给自己的孩子。

但是只有55%的婴儿潮一代（47岁到66岁人群）表示他们也持有相同观点。事实上，接受调查的婴儿潮一代有三分之一称他们宁愿将钱捐给慈善机构，而不是留给孩子。

他们的理由是什么呢？据调查，一些人说他们认为每代人都应该创造自己的财富，另一些人说在孩子成长时给孩子的成功做投资更为重要。该调查涵盖了642名富人，每个人至少有300万美元的可投资资产。

美国信托公司的总裁基斯?邦克斯说：“我们的调查显示出一代人在行为和观点上的转变，很可能是个人经历和社会对经济现实的反应影响的结果。”

大多数被调查者甚至不和子女谈钱：只有37%的人称他们向子女透露了自己的全部净资产额。那些67岁以上的人称他们不和子女讨论钱，因为他们的父母也不和他们谈钱。而较年轻的受访者称，他们不想妨碍对孩子职业道德的培养。

该研究的其他几个亮点如下：

十分之六的有钱父母对于孩子是否会较好地处理遗产不是很有信心。婴儿潮一代在这方面最没信心。

42%的婴儿潮一代和54%的46岁以下的受访者为父母或其他亲戚支付医疗费用。

尽管2012年底税收法将会出现变动，但三分之二的被调查者还没有制定也不打算制定在2012年底之前将财产赠与家人以减少应纳税资产的计划。