Yours isn’t the only family to benefit from inheritance, but your situation is hardly typical. My parents had their own business and lived simply. They were longtime investors and owned rental property for most of their adult lives.

After they both died, because one lasted almost a year after a massive stroke and the other had Alzheimer’s, there was just $4,000 left and there are five of us kids. We didn’t mind because we never had to support them financially. For some boomers, their parents are or were a financial responsibility, not the source of a windfall.