Why can’t you rely on mom and dad’s money for retirement?

In a recent episode of the Animal Spirits Podcast, Ben Carlson of Ritholtz Wealth Management revealed a number that should change how millennials think about their parents’ money. “In a 65-year-old couple, there is a 64% chance, so a two-thirds chance, that at least one partner will live past 90,” He said citing New York Times data. This single figure rearranges the math behind the cool retirement planning that’s going on in the minds of 35-year-olds: Mom and Dad will leave something for me, and that void will be filled.

The stakes are solid. If you are 35 today and your parents are 65, most likely one of them lives into their 90s. This pushes the inheritance into your own retirement window, not into your wealth-building years. Carlson and co-host Michael Batnick cited Wall Street Journal analysis showing most millennials will not inherit inheritances. “Until I get like most of it, I don’t know, by the 2030s and possibly the 2040s.” By then, the oldest Millennials are already receiving Social Security.

read quickly

• A $300,000 inheritance loses $2 million in compounding potential at a 7% real return when reached at 65 instead of 35, leaving the inherited money too late for retirement.

• This strategy fails for Millennials who expect an inheritance to fill the retirement gap, but works as a real bonus for those who have enough independent savings to retire without it.

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Verdict: Inheritance is a bonus, not a plan

Relying on an inheritance for retirement is a flawed strategy and the longevity math is the reason. The financial process understood here is time-weighted compounding. A dollar saved at 30 takes about 35 years before traditional retirement age. A dollar inherited at 65 has zeros in it. Same dollar, completely different value.

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Run the numbers on a realistic case. Let’s say a 35-year-old expects to inherit $300,000 and decides to save less today because of it. If that money comes in at age 35 and is invested at a 7% real return, it will grow to about $2.3 million by age 65. If this comes at age 65, it’s worth $300,000. That difference is full retirement.

Now layer on the longevity problem from the other side. Your parents need that money to survive. Carlson explains why retirees are tightening their grip: “People are nervous and afraid they will lose their money.” A couple planning for a 30-year retirement spends differently than one planning for a 20-year retirement. Long-term care alone can run up to six figures a year. Assisted living, in-home assistance, and memory care routinely consume what heirs assumed was their inheritance.

the variable that determines the outcome

The only factor that determines whether the inheritance helps you is when it arrives relative to your retirement date, and that’s mostly out of your control. Two scenarios make this clear.

Scenario One: Parent dies at age 70, heir is age 50, inheritance is $400,000. Invested at 7% for 15 years, that grows to about $1.1 million by 65. This changes the picture of retirement significantly. Batnik described this version clearly: “When people’s parents die and they immediately love their life 10 times more.”

Scenario Two: Parents are 92, heirs are 65, inheritance is $200,000 after end-of-life costs destroy the estate. The heir has already retired, the compounding window is over, and the money has become a cushion rather than a foundation. Carlson’s framing fits: “thread a needle” When you become almost impossible “You don’t get the money until you’re 65.”

Hosts admit they know people like this “Live beyond your means and save nothing because they know it’s coming.” This is the trap. You can’t write off 40 years of savings losses with an inheritance that may arrive 30 years late and 50% less than expected.

what to do this week

1. Plan for retirement assuming zero inheritance. Use the SSA.gov estimator for your Social Security baseline, then use any 401(k) provider’s projection tool to map your current savings rate to age 65. If the difference is inconvenient, make up the difference by your own contribution, not by someone else’s mortality.

2. Maximize the match, then move toward the IRS limit. The 2026 401(k) employee deferral limit is $24,000 and the IRA limit is $7,500. Every dollar held in your 30s and 40s has another 20 to 30 years worth of value that a dollar inherited at 65 won’t.

3. Have a conversation. Ask your parents directly if they have long-term care insurance, a will, and a realistic spend-down plan. You are confirming that there is a plan in place that is not dependent on them dying early, you are not asking for numbers, just proof that the plan exists.

4. If money comes, consider it as money received. Pay off high-rate debt, pay down retirement accounts, and finance taxable brokerage. Don’t integrate it back into the lifestyle you built based on your expectation of it.

Plan as if you will never receive the inheritance. If it does, it’s a bonus. If this doesn’t happen, you will still be retired.

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