Should you provide financial help to your adult children now or leave them an inheritance later? It’s up to you but giving away some of your wealth while you are still around to see the effects of your generosity can have significant advantages.
Assuming you have a plan to provide for a comfortable retirement, there’s little downside to sharing some of your wealth now. For starters:
- At this time, there are no negative tax consequences in giving cash gifts to children. That may not always be the case.
- There are no limits on the amount you can gift.
If you want to gift cash to loved ones, it should be done thoughtfully and your Lawyers Financial Advisor can help you devise a plan. Here are some purposeful options to consider.
Housing
Helping children buy their first home provides them with a head start toward building equity and accumulating an important asset class. The value of your gift is not just the amount you give today. It’s the long-term growth potential of the asset plus the savings that might be generated from lower mortgage payments.
Personal Pension Plan
The availability of employer-funded pension plans, especially defined benefit pension plans, has been declining steadily. Unless they work in the public sector, your children’s chances of retiring with a good pension are increasingly unlikely. A cash gift from you could help them create some version of their own pension plans such as an RSP or a Non-Par Whole Life Insurance Policy. A $100,000 gift, compounded at 6% a year for the next 25 years will be worth over $440,000; a nice retirement nest egg.
Remember, your adult children are entitled to Lawyers Financial products and benefits.
Pay Down Debt
Your children may have considerable debt. Rising education costs can cause overwhelming student debt. As well, typical start-up costs of adult life such as a home, a vehicle and furniture can add to daunting debt levels. By helping your children reduce debt today, you are giving them the gift of cash flow. They can invest more of their money for the future. It could grow to a very significant amount over their lifetime.
What’s in it for you?
Beyond the satisfaction of seeing the happiness your gifts create, there’s a practical advantage to giving some money away. For example, reducing the cost to administer your estate and potentially saving thousands in probate fees.
Where to begin
You’ll need to make sure that you can afford to gift some money. Your Lawyers Financial Advisor can help you estimate the amount of money you will need to fund a comfortable retirement and be prepared for any long-term care costs. Then, we’ll help you determine which assets are the most cost-effect ones to gift to your children today.
