There's an immense transfer of wealth that's about to take place in America and it's of historic proportion.

      That had been the news, the expectation, and the declaration regarding the financial future of the Baby Boomer Generation a dozen years ago as we began turning 50.  The prediction was that as a group, Boomers stood to inherit trillions from our parents.  

    Before you start spending the promise,  let me update you on the reality.  

    This whole idea of inheriting such wealth came from projections economists made more than a decade ago.  Their conclusion was based on the theory that as our parents (born in the 30s or earlier) die, their Baby Boomer children (those of us born between 1946-1964) would reap the windfall of inheritance.  But according to AARP's Public Policy Institute:  “Inheritances are not going to make a big splash in the finances of most boomers," says John Gist, associate director.  "The safest bet boomers can make is to consider themselves on their own financially and manage their money accordingly."

    Then along came this thing called a recession and money saved for the future was either needed now or lost as retirement savings plunged with the economy.

    What I'm about to describe might make me sound like former football coach and recently retired sports commentator John Madden.  His favorite word was "boom".  I want to borrow it just for the play on words.  I'm a Boomer.  The oldest of us turned 60 in 2006.   Boomers generated big incomes during the economic boom time of the 1990s.  That boom begat the boomlet of 51 million -- our children who were born between 1965 and 1976 and were dubbed Generation X.  We had designer resumes, designer cars, and designer life styles --boom or bust.

    In the midst of marriages, raising kids and building careers we Boomers created an unprecedented amount of personal wealth in this country.  Yet it's estimated that today, 60% of Boomers who are 60-years old are postponing retirement because we can no longer afford it or haven't saved as aggressively as we should have for it.  

    So what happened?  Perhaps we were lulled into a sense of complacency by reports of the big inheritances projected for the Baby Boomer generation.  Or, perhaps the money we were accumulating was enough, was judiciously saved and allowed to grow undisturbed.  But along came longer life expectancies, skyrocketing health care costs, the price of long-term care and then -- our economy tanked.  The meltdown on Wall Street took its toll on Main Street.  The toll on Main Street showed up on your street and mine and in our parents' generation's estate planning, too.   

    Elders living longer: we're grateful.  But living longer means they need more of their nest egg -- sooner, and are forced to spend more -- faster.  According to a study by AARP, people who are 65 today can expect to live perhaps another two decades.  That's why financial planners are now suggesting - given longer life expectancies and rising health care costs, Baby Boomers planning to retire should be prepared to replace at least 75% of their pre-retirement income in retirement. (http://www.yeske.com/articles/fpa/bravenewworld.htm).

    The real adjusted bottom line mentality for Baby Boomers -- the generation once thought to be inheriting as much as $33 trillion from their parents is - expect little in the way of a wealth transfer.  Some surveys say typically inheritances are well under $100,000 and most people get no inheritance at all.  Given that many older Americans will now need to use their wealth rather than pass it on to their children and the fact that most of us will probably need a lot more money in retirement than we think – the potential lack of an inheritance is a very important factor in responsibly calculating how much money you'll need in retirement.  

    I'm not in any way suggesting that family inheritance is a thing of the past.  I'm simply suggesting that you do the math before you make any move that will impact your financial comfort zone.  Everyone's seeing less money and looking at an uncertain horizon for when things will get better.  They will get better.  But until they do and especially when they do, have a plan that will keep you using whatever part of any wealth transfer that comes your way -- wisely.  

    Here's to your health and wealth.