Study: High Percentage of Americans Die With Nothing to Leave Behind

Estate planning is all about arranging for the distribution of your remaining financial resources after you pass away. Many people have quite specific ideas about what they would like to be able to do for their families and they take the appropriate action with the assistance of a good inheritance planning lawyer.

However, recording your final wishes in writing is not going to do much good if you have nothing left to leave behind.

Researchers are finding that a very significant percentage of Americans are unprepared for retirement. Most studies that have been conducted have focused on the amount of money that people have saved before entering retirement coupled with their anticipated income. However, the National Bureau of Economic Research took a different approach recently.

They endeavored to measure the quantity of financial resources that people typically have left over after they die. One of their findings was that 46% of individuals who pass away in the United States do so in possession of less than $10,000 in total assets.

This is a rather surprising number to many observers. And, the study went on to state that people who were in better shape financially were for the most part in better shape from a health perspective.

Estate planning attorneys are always emphasizing how important it is to develop a cogent plan for the future early on during your adult life. This 46% statistic certainly underscores the importance of careful planning and intelligent, prudent financial actions over a sustained period of time.