moneywise.com
By Emma Caplan-Fisher
July 26th, 2026
‘It’s too expensive for most people’: Skyrocketing cost of eldercare is obliterating the chance of passing on an inheritance for many Americans
Baby boomers are sitting on an enormous pile of wealth — built on decades of rising home values, the stock market and sustained economic growth. Their children have been counting on inheriting some of it. But a new analysis suggests that for a growing number of families, the money won’t make it that far.
The Washington Post looked at thousands of seniors’ finances in their final decade and learned the median American spent $19,179 out of pocket on healthcare — but one in six spent more than $50,000, and one in 20 spent more than $100,000. Most striking: the share of people who died with nothing left after care costs nearly doubled, rising from 6% for those who died between 2006 and 2010 to almost 11% for those who died between 2017 and 2022.
