I doubt there is a significant portion of Americans with parents who have $1M+ mortgage-free houses. Maybe a few in CA and the other hotspots in the west and around DC, but most people are not set to make any life changing amounts of money from their parents dying.
You might be surprised at the scale of it. Tens of millions of Americans are going to get an immense wealth transfer in the coming decades.
There are currently around 11 to 13 million millionaire households (excluding primary residence value) in the US.
Credit Suisse claimed in 2015 that there were 15.7 million individual millionaires in the US, so perhaps that figure is approaching 18 to 20 million today. Per that report, the US had about ~47% of all the world's millionaires (since that was 2015, China has no doubt climbed further). In that report, they listed that nearly half of all people on earth worth more than $50m were in the US (around ~60,000 in the US, plausibly quite higher now).
There are 1.35 million households worth between $5m and $25m. And 172,000 households worth over $25m.
The stock market move in 2017 alone added 700,000 new millionaires for example.
The US has about five to six million high net worth individuals, that control at least $20 trillion in wealth.
Tens of millions of Americans are going to get an immense wealth transfer in the coming decades.
You're right, but not in the way you think. It won't be the children of those old people who get the money; it'll be the people who provide services for the elderly. People are living much longer and they often don't have pension provision that scales well, so as they get older they have to rely on selling assets to pay for things like healthcare.
It doesn't have to be a significant portion...just a visible one. Think of all the people who work in tech or other high paying professions and own places in NYC, Boston, SF, etc. A lot of them don't have kids, or have at most 1, maybe 2. These are homes that the kids may want to keep rather than sell, locking the "wealth" within a family.
I'm about to give up, and let history repeat itself.
Yes--if an child inherits a house, they can inherit the property tax their parents paid, if they fill out the paperwork within 120 days-- I believe. Multiple children usually inherit the family home, with the eventual angry sale. The home goes back on the market, and full property taxes are paid.
Most kids aren't inheriting mansions. The're usually track houses in need of repairs. Most of the kids had blue collar parents, and never thought their bungalow would be worth a million dollars.
It's really getting old. If the younger set had any idea how politicians wasted that Prop 13 money; we wouldn't be blaming our current problems on Prop 13.
Blame your boss who who just has to live in the best neighborhood, with the best climate.
I guarantee if Prop 13 was repealed REITS, rich foreigners, and Zuckerburg types would swoop in and buy up most of the stock, and rent it back to employees.
Person who didn't see their dad crying at the dinner table, "But at least we would have more tax money?". Look at how your county spends your property taxes now; Not so good?
