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RAW - “You can't rely on people dying when you need them to” - RAW

ended 15. August 2026

****NEWSPAGE RAW**** Unpublished News Alert 

Financial planner and 50 Today 100 Tomorrow author, Scott Gallacher, of Leicester-based Rowley Turton, is warning people approaching retirement against making plans that depend too heavily on an expected inheritance.

Gallacher was prompted by an online retirement discussion in which someone hoped to stop working relatively young with fairly modest pension and savings provision, while expecting to inherit property within the following 10 to 20 years. The details have been changed to protect the individual.

Gallacher said: “I sometimes rather bluntly tell clients that you can't rely on people dying when you need them to.

An expected inheritance can certainly be relevant to long-term financial planning, but there's a big difference between an inheritance making a good retirement plan better and your retirement depending upon it.

Your parents might live to 100 — and I hope they do. They could need care, spend more of their money, make gifts, remarry or simply change their plans. Even if you eventually inherit exactly what you're expecting, it could arrive 10 or 20 years later than you imagined.”

Gallacher suggests one simple stress test for anyone contemplating retirement partly on the strength of a future inheritance:

Would your retirement plan still work if the inheritance never arrived?

He added: “If the answer is yes, an inheritance can be a wonderful bonus or even a financial 'get out of jail' card later in life. If the answer is no, I'd be much more cautious. Until an inheritance actually passes to you, an expectation is not an asset. It remains somebody else's money.”

Gallacher says there is also an interesting contradiction for financial planners, who may be encouraging older clients to enjoy more of their accumulated wealth while their adult children are mentally including the same wealth in their own retirement plans.

Unedited responses from Newspage experts below.

5 responses from the Newspage community

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Scott Gallacher
Director at Rowley Turton
I’ve seen expected inheritances delayed or substantially changed after a parent remarries. It’s another reminder that family circumstances can evolve considerably over 10, 20 or 30 years, so even a seemingly likely inheritance should be treated with caution in retirement planning.

I’ve explored the wider issue here:
https://www.100tomorrow.com/the-journal/your-parents-are-not-your-pension
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Nouran Moustafa
Practice Principal & IFA at Roxton Wealth
I would never build a retirement plan that only works if somebody dies on schedule. An expected inheritance can absolutely be modelled, but I would treat it as upside, not as the foundation holding the whole plan together.

In practice, I prefer showing clients two scenarios: one with no inheritance at all, and one where it arrives later than expected. That immediately shows whether the plan is genuinely resilient or whether retirement is being funded by hope.

People live longer, care costs can be significant, family circumstances change and parents are increasingly being encouraged to enjoy their own wealth rather than preserve it for the next generation.

If the plan works without the inheritance, great. If it falls apart without it, I would be very cautious about retiring early. Until the money is legally yours, it is not part of your balance sheet.
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Paul Denley
CEO at Oakham Wealth Management
Scott's right that timing is unreliable - but over caution has a cost too. Tell everyone to ignore inheritance entirely and some will work a decade longer than needed, then die with it unspent: the very mistake we're trying to stop their parents making.

Not all inheritances are equal. An only child whose widowed parent owns a mortgage free home is in a very different position from someone hoping for a slice of an estate that three siblings, costs of care, and a remarriage may also affect.

So rather than “exclude it”, I would scenario test it properly - with realistic delays and a haircut for care and other uncertainties. Plan to be fine without it. But don't pretend a highly likely inheritance is worth nothing. Over caution can steal years too.
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Antonia Medlicott
Founder & MD at Investing Insiders
Treat expected inheritance as a potential future bonus rather than as core income within a retirement plan. There are too many variables to justify relying on it and doing so could make a plan unsustainable.

Someone may expect to inherit £500,000 but if the person they are expecting it from lives decades longer, the assumptions underpinning their retirement plan could be seriously undermined. During that time the assets may be required to fund care, or the person may choose to spend or gift more of their wealth.

If expecting a significant inheritance, it is important to exercise extreme caution. Try to plan for different scenarios such as, if it arrives later than expected, is substantially smaller than anticipated or does not materialise at all. Make sure you can afford essential expenses during retirement without the inheritance to avoid a shortfall in cash.

Build a retirement plan that works without the inheritance and treat anything received as an upside rather than a necessity.
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Eugen Neagu
Director at N2 Asset Management Limited
Every year more than 100 billion of pounds get inherited, it has a name - "the Great wealth transfer", so considering inheritance in financial planning is important. Wealthy parents usually have legacy plans in place, and their children are aware of these plans, as a result we consider them. In fact, one of our service is named "intergenerational wealth planning".

The best approach is to discuss these issues with clients, as some do not want their financial plan to rely on inherited wealth and plan to skip a generation, others may need to rely on their inheritance. We explain that an inheritance is not certain until it is received and we try to put a cautious estimate on the amount in the financial plan.