Americans have historically been averse to discussing financial matters among family members, but a recent study by Fidelity Investments found that attitudes toward taboo wealth topics are shifting.Fidelity’s State of Wealth Mobility study found that 56% of Americans didn’t discuss family finances with their parents when they were children. Of that group, 82% wish that they had, because they think it would’ve been beneficial to have received a financial education at an earlier age.It also found that Americans’ attitudes to those talks are changing, with 83% of respondents saying that it’s important to talk about money management with children, and 67% of parents already talking to their children about family finances.”Money and wealth is one of the topics that, notoriously, we just don’t like to talk about historically,” David Peterson, head of advanced wealth solutions at Fidelity Investments, told FOX Business. “Wealth is like a deeply personal experience, so in some respects, it’s not surprising that people have historically been uncomfortable talking about it.”WHAT NET WORTH DOES ONE NEED TO BE RICH IN 2024? HERE’S WHAT AMERICANS THINKAmericans’ attitudes toward once-taboo financial conversations are easing, Fidelity’s study found. (iStock / iStock)”The study indicated that people are starting to sort of break that cycle of avoiding the family discussions. And so clearly, if we relate that then to the intergenerational wealth transfer, that is sort of a generational difference, and what we found is that older people generally – they’re just not as comfortable talking about it,” Peterson said. Peterson said that many Americans have experienced the complications that can arise when a parent who hasn’t been as open about their finances begins to decline, and family members have to step in to help take care of their finances.”When people start reaching end of life, and they suddenly can’t manage their own finances or they no longer have the capacity to make decisions around it, this is where you start to see things kind of go sideways a little bit, because they haven’t shared with their families what their wealth is, where the wealth is, what it’s made of,” he said. “And you can find yourself very quickly in a situation where, during a really emotional time of life, people are now worried about, well, how do we actually manage mom and dad’s finances when they can no longer do it themselves?”MYSTERIOUS $7B ESTATE TAX PAYMENT SPURS QUESTIONS ABOUT SOURCE OF FUNDSPeterson suggested that families approach financial conversations as a process, rather than trying to take care of it all at once. (iStock)He said that it’s important for families to have documents including a health care proxy or health care power of attorney to help navigate the health care system, as well as a living will with instructions about the individual’s hopes around that. A financial power of attorney that entrusts someone to act on their behalf on financial matters is a
Gio. Gen 9th, 2025
