PODCAST: Estate-Planning Your Stuff with T. Eric Reich

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Links mentioned in this episode:

• Gen I: What Investing's New Class Looks Like
• Time to Face Reality: Your Kids Don’t Want Your Stuff!
• What ‘Non-Financial Assets’ Should Be Included in Your Estate Plan?
• Selling Your Stuff: The Tax Dimension

Transcript

David Muhlbaum: When it comes to estate planning, money is usually front of mind. Makes sense, that's where decisions about wills, trusts and more can realize real tax savings. But it's stuff, tangible things like houses, china and collectibles that often generate drama and conflict. We talk with a financial advisor who's touched a nerve on this front. Also, meet Generation I. All coming up in this episode of your money's worth—stick around.

David Muhlbaum: Welcome to Your Money's Worth, I'm kiplinger.com senior editor David Muhlbaum, joined by my co-host, senior editor Sandy Block. How are you doing Sandy?

Sandy Block: I'm doing good.

David Muhlbaum: Well, good. Short of talking politics, there's probably no quicker way to generate angry feedback than waging intergenerational battles.

Sandy Block: But you're going to do it anyway?

David Muhlbaum: Sort of? I say that in part because while the study I'm going to discuss sounded like it was going to be kids versus the olds, it turns out there's more nuance than that. Anyway, I'm going to talk about Generation I, which isn't really even a generation but rather a handy little term that the Charles Schwab Investment firm cooked up for new investors. By that they mean people who are new to stock market investing.

Sandy Block: And those folks have been the source of some of the market drama we've seen this year like the GameStop bubble we talked about earlier this year.

David Muhlbaum: Yes, yes. There is overlap between the whole meme stocks crowd and Generation I. I stands for investor but since it's a new term, let's start with the definition. What Charles Schwab means by Generation Investor, Generation I, is people who started stock market investing in 2020—not before. So it doesn't matter what your actual age is. There are Generation I members who are Boomers, Gen X, Millennials. Obviously, the group skews younger than investors broadly, but what's striking is that Generation I, according to Schwab, accounts for 15% of all U.S. stock market investors.

Sandy Block: By population, not by dollars invested.

David Muhlbaum: Yes, by population. They don't have a figure for a Generation I's sum assets but I see what you're getting at. And yes, Gen I earns about $20,000 less in annual income, at $76,000 a year, than those who began investing before 2020. And here's another interesting number, half of Generation I says they live paycheck to paycheck.

Sandy Block: Okay. That sounds worrisome.

Yeah, but here's the thing. Some of the so-called Generation I are people who downloaded Robinhood and are watching a handful of stocks for big moves, short term trading. And if