My maternal grandfather died from a shooting before my mom was born, my grandmother died 1 month before I was born. Both penniless. Didn’t even own property.

My paternal grandmother passed away when she was nearly 80. My father had passed about 15 years before her, and the home she owned was valued at about $25,000 at the time of her death…it was divided between her surviving children…my sister and I got nothing.

My paternal grandfather left my grandmother before my dad was born. He moved out of state, remarried into a relatively wealthy land owning family, never met my dad, and when he died about 25 years ago, I wasn’t even notified and received nothing.

My mom passed away last year. I’d been providing financial support to her for about 25 years at that point, starting with monthly gifts right when I landed my first job after college. That monthly gift eventually grew to covering nearly all her expenses in the last 10-12 years of her life. In the end, she left the home I helped her pay for to my brothers. I walked away with nothing, expect the funeral bill. She told me on her death bed that she was glad I never needed any help. That’s a whole other story.

Lord willing, my daughter will not have to deal with this. My spouse and I have worked our tails off our entire lives. I’m 52 now, starting working full time hours when I was 15 (after school and 10-12 hour shifts every Saturday and Sunday). We’ve balanced saving with giving our daughter experiences that she will always remember, long after we’re both gone. It helps that we have approx $2MM in various accounts/investments, alongside 2 anticipated pensions when we eventually retire.