There is no greater love than parent for child. This is perhaps why affluent people have no love for the estate tax. After building and maintaining a household and paying taxes while doing so, as their last wish before passing they’d like to see all their wealth to go to their families without further IRS meddling.

But because of such love, parents are biased and tend to spoil their children. Consider the other side of the transaction, what it’s like to get an inheritance. Through the blind luck of birth, the child receives a massive, undeserved boost compared with his peers. It can mean the difference between secure affluence and disaster.

I am one of the lucky. Before my maternal grandmother died in 1998, she and my mother agreed that she’d split her estate — itself spring-boarded by my great-grandfather’s business acumen and maintained through sound investing — into thirds for me, my sister and my mother. Because my mother was already well-off, my nana wanted to make sure her grandchildren were secure, too. So at 28 years old, I received several hundred thousand dollars (after taxes). And if my parents, who are in their late 70s, die before me, I will receive another inheritance.

Inherited wealth has made a huge difference in my life. Because of it, I didn’t accrue debt in graduate school. When my daughter was born, we had to pay $14,000 out of pocket for the procedure, due to complications and limited health insurance — but I didn’t have to borrow to cover the bill. Three years ago, we even bought a house in the expensive San Francisco Bay Area.

I feel guilty about these advantages. In the U.S., family wealth is a racial marker. In 2013, the median wealth of white households was $141,900; for black households it was $11,000; Hispanic households, $13,700. If cars are not counted, the median worth of black households shrinks to $1,700, with 40% of families having zero or negative net worth.

Because of decades of housing discrimination and predatory lending, black and Hispanic households have been left out of the wealth-generating benefits of home ownership.

And even people who own homes are stretched thin: 63% of Americans don’t have enough cash savings to cover a $500 emergency, let alone a $14,000 hospital bill.

To read more click the link: http://usat.ly/22AFhBT

If you have any questions feel free to give me a call at (210) 691-1583 or check out my website here: http://bit.ly/1l3kxmC to learn more about the services I provide.

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