Boomers Are Passing Down Fortunes — And Way, Way Too Much Stuff
November 15, 2025 at 05:30PMMy mother’s been cleaning out the rambling study in the house she shared with my late father—which means that last week, I started researching how to ship a crate of records across the country. Next up: how to get rid of a warped and hopelessly untuneable piano! I should consider myself lucky; at least she doesn’t have 10,000 Pez dispensers or 1,300 teacups, like some of the people in Chris Rovzar’s piece about how the “Great Wealth Transfer” from Boomers to their kids is really the “Great Clutter Transfer.”
Speak to almost anyone in their 30s, 40s or 50s, and you’ll find they have plenty to say about how they are having to manage — or are preparing to manage — their parents’ belongings. I recently polled my peers about this on Instagram and received dozens of emotional responses. “Oomf, let me tell you,” was how they often began. Or “Hoooo boy. Cracks knuckles.” Tackling one’s parents’ stuff, whether they’re already gone or still around, can be upsetting, stressful and deeply sad, as well as enlightening, cathartic or outright shocking. In almost all cases, it’s a lot of hard work.
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from Longreads https://longreads.com/2025/11/15/bloomberg-great-wealth-transfer/
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