Millennial and Gen Z heirs are eagerly anticipating a $124 trillion “Great Wealth Transfer” as they inherit their parents’ wealth—however, many are set to be disappointed. That’s because new data says boomers are splashing their cash on vacations instead of setting it aside for future generations.
It’s become so common that the trend’s even been given a name: Ski-ing. Meaning, “spending the kids’ inheritance.”
New data from Abta, Britain’s largest travel trade association, shows that 82% of over-65s took a holiday in the past 12 months, up five percentage points from two years ago—and the company’s CEO says the spike in older people traveling is specifically down to them spending money that would have been part of their kids’ inheritance.
A separate report from retirement provider Standard Life found that one in seven British parents plan to prioritize enjoying their money in their retirement over leaving an inheritance.
Why boomers are ‘ski-ing’: cash rich, mortgage-free and spending it
Boomers are living longer than previous generations, and they’re also richer than their parents and grandparents ever were. So instead of pottering around or watching daytime TV, they’re enjoying booked beach vacations and city breaks.
As Abta’s CEO Mark Tanzer told The Times, “that generation is probably fitter than it used to be; your mortgage is paid off, you are starting your pension, you are actually quite cash rich.” And with that abundance of time and money, they’re not even letting the cost of living get in the way of enjoying it.
When asked whether cost-of-living concerns would affect their holiday plans in the next 12 months, almost half of over-65s said it had “no impact.”
Unlike younger people, many boomers don’t have to worry about rising rents or food bills. In fact, according to The Institute for Fiscal Studies, their disposable income keeps going up. Having spent a lifetime working for it, many have decided it’s their turn to enjoy every penny—after all, you can’t take it with you.
“I think they have got more disposable income and they want to have experiences,” Tanzer added.
“There may be a bit of them thinking, ‘I just don’t want to leave this to my kids’, but they certainly don’t want to leave it to the taxman. There’s that sense of ‘well, if I don’t spend it, it will just go to inheritance tax’.”
American boomers are skipping inheritances too—it’s going to be a shock for their Gen Z and millennial kids
The trend isn’t exclusive to Britain. In 2024, a Northwestern Mutual survey of 4,500 U.S. adults found that just 22% of baby boomers expect to leave an inheritance, and over half are explicitly planning not to. Only 11% said leaving something for the kids is their top financial goal.
Some boomers are treating it as a philosophy: dying with zero. They’re going out of their way to enjoy all their wealth while they are still alive and die with $0 in their bank account.
“It’s such a shame to see people dying with so much money in a job they’ve worked in that they don’t enjoy, or with people they don’t like,” personal finance coach James Beckett previously told Fortune. “They go on autopilot, accumulating wealth and not thinking about what it’s for.”
But it’s going to be a huge shock for the heirs when they open their parents’ wills to find nothing left. More than half of Gen Zers and nearly 60% of millennials said they’re depending on an inheritance to retire comfortably.