‘Tis the season for tricky chats? How to talk inheritance with family

While conversations around death and inheritance are never easy, some personal finance experts say this conversation can be necessary to avoid pain down the road.

Canadians will be travelling over the coming weeks to spend time with family, and some experts say the holidays might be the right time to bring up some important conversations with parents and family around tricky financial planning topics like money, wealth and inheritance.

Talking about money can be difficult, especially when it comes to questions of death and inheritance in the family.

Data shows just how awkward questions of inheritance can be. A recent U.S.-based report by Fidelity Investment shows that 68 per cent of parents have not told their children what they’ll inherit — or if they’ll inherit at all.

The report said 35 per cent of parents don’t want their children to know how much their kids will inherit and 34 per cent said talking about inheritance makes them uncomfortable.

But experts say those conversations are important to have, especially with Canada in the midst of what some are calling “the great wealth transfer” — which the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada projects will see $1 trillion of wealth be transferred from Baby Boomers to their millennial and Gen X children between 2023 and 2026.

As morbid as this conversation may seem, it can avoid more pain down the road, experts say.

“That’s not an easy conversation and it’s not a fun conversation but it is an important and necessary one,” financial planner Laura Whiteland said.

“Ten out of 10 times, humans die,” she said, adding that planning for the inevitable is a practical thing to do.