So here’s a funny thing about wealth management advice – almost all of it assumes you’re going to have kids. The standard playbook reads: make money, save money, give money to your kids, repeat. But what if kids aren’t part of your story?
Open any planning brochure and count how many photos show proud parents with their kids and grandkids gathered around holiday tables. You know the ones I’m talking about.
The beauty of planning without children is that your financial life can be custom-tailored to fit exactly what matters to you. No societal expectations, no guilty feelings about “the kids’ inheritance,” no college savings accounts that drain your travel budget.
Whether you want to spend it all on experiences, leave it all to charity, or something in between, the choice is entirely yours. That freedom is worth celebrating, not apologizing for.
The truth is that ~15% of adults aged 55+ don’t have kids—and this is likely to grow. In a 2024 study, 47% of U.S. childless adults (age 18-50) said they probably won’t ever have kids. Maybe you chose this path deliberately, or perhaps life unfolded differently than expected.
Either way, the absence of children creates a unique planning scenario that many advisors aren’t quite sure how to solve. I absolutely love working with these clients because we get to be more creative and intentional about what happens with their wealth.
Let’s talk about what that looks like.
Creating a Purpose-Driven Wealth Strategy
Here’s a question I love asking clients without children: “What’s all this money actually for?”
The answers I get are fascinating. Without the automatic “it’s for the kids” response, people really have to think about what matters to them. Some questions worth asking yourself:
- What impact do I want to have in the world?
- Which relationships matter most in my life?
- What brings me joy and fulfillment now?
- What legacy do I want to leave behind, if any?
There’s a tricky balance here between enjoying your wealth during your lifetime and preserving it for future impact. Without children, you might reasonably tilt toward spending more on experiences, healthcare, and things that make your life better right now. After all, you don’t have to worry about your kids complaining that you spent their inheritance on lavish vacations.
But don’t mistake childlessness for a lack of legacy concerns. Many without children are even more focused on creating meaning with their money precisely because they’re not just defaulting to the standard generational wealth transfer.
For unmarried folks without children, the planning imperative gets even stronger. Without that default next-of-kin structure, your assets could end up distributed according to whatever dusty law your state has on the books if you don’t create explicit instructions. I’ve seen this play out in weird ways – distant relatives receiving windfalls while the deceased’s partner of 20 years gets nothing because they never formalized their relationship.
Your Estate Plan: Time to Get Creative
I’ll be blunt about this. You’ve really got three options for where your extra money goes: people you care about, charities you believe in, or the government. And nobody intentionally picks the government. (Though plenty accidentally do by not planning at all.)
Once you decide where your money will go, you have to decide if you will make these transfers while you’re alive or after you’re gone.
I usually recommend the approach of giving (at least some money) while you’re alive, because you can see the impact your generosity is having on the people or places you care about most. There’s something profoundly satisfying about hearing your nephew talk about landing his first job after 4 years at a college that you paid for, or seeing your name on that little plaque at the animal shelter you’ve supported for years. It’s not the right answer for everyone, but it is something to consider.
We’ll dive into a few strategies below.
Charitable Giving and Philanthropic Structures
Child-free individuals often find themselves drawn to philanthropy, not because they’re saints (though some might be), but because it feels good to direct your money toward something you actually care about.
For many, their charitable endeavors begin with ad-hoc donations directly to charity. It might start with supporting a friend’s annual charity marathon or contributing to your school’s annual giving fund. But when the check sizes grow and charitable legacies become important, there are smarter ways to give. Let me walk you through the main options:
Private Foundations are like having your own personal charity. They work well if you have serious money (typically $1M+) and want hands-on involvement in giving. The upside is control; the downside is paperwork. Lots of paperwork. Foundations are the way to go if a perpetual charitable legacy is important to you.
Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs) are a trimmed-down version of a private foundation. You get many of the same tax benefits with much less administrative hassle. They’re particularly useful for those “I had a great year and need a big tax deduction right now” situations. Most people start with this one since it is the easiest to set up and maintain.
Charitable Remainder Trusts (CRTs) let you have your cake and eat it too – you receive income for life while designating the remainder to charity. These work particularly well for appreciating assets or as part of retirement income planning.
Charitable Lead Trusts (CLTs) flip the script – providing income to charity for a term of years, then transferring remaining assets to non-charitable beneficiaries. These can be powerful for transferring wealth to nieces, nephews, or other individuals with reduced gift tax consequences. Make your foundation the recipient of the income stream to really take control over your philanthropic legacy.
We’ll dig into these topics in future posts, but this is a good start. The take-away is that if you are thinking big when it comes to charity, there are more sophisticated strategies out there than the ‘spray-and-pray’ check writing method.
The tax advantages here can be significant. Beyond income tax deductions, these structures can help you avoid capital gains taxes on appreciated assets and reduce estate taxes. Not to sound too mercenary about it, but if you’re going to give anyway, you might as well get the tax benefits.
The “What About My Nephew?” Consideration
You might not have kids, but chances are you have people you care about. Maybe it’s nieces and nephews, maybe it’s that friend who’s been there through everything, maybe it’s your third cousin twice removed who actually remembers your birthday.
Without obvious heirs, you need to be extra clear about who gets what and when. If you don’t, the courts will decide for you.
So how do you actually get money to these people? I covered this in more detail in this post, but the basics are:
- Annual Exclusion Gifts: This is a great place to start. The IRS lets you give $19,000 per year (2025 limit) to as many people as you want without triggering a taxable gift. Just write a check or make a transfer. It’s simple. See the trust section below if the recipient is under 18. You can also give an unlimited amount to pay for tuition or healthcare expenses, as long as the payments go directly to the school or healthcare facility.
- 529 College Plans: If you want your gifts to be exclusively for education, 529 accounts are your friend. You can even front-load five years of annual exclusion gifts into one massive contribution ($95,000 per beneficiary!), watch it grow tax-free, and become the favorite aunt or uncle in the process. Bonus: You can get a (small) tax deduction for this in some states.
- Trusts: Trusts let you control when and how your beneficiaries get the money. Want your niece to get distributions at 25, 30, and 35 instead of a windfall at 18? A trust can do that. Want to incentivize your nephew to finish college? A trust can do that too. Yes, they’re more expensive to set up, but they’re the Swiss Army knife of wealth transfer planning.
- Big Gifts: If you want to give more than the annual exclusion amount, no one is stopping you. Just note that any amount over the $19,000 is a taxable gift and will eat into your lifetime gift exemption, which in 2025 is $13.99 million. That sounds like a lot (and it is), but be strategic with it. Any time you’re making large gifts, it’s worth reviewing your entire estate plan to make sure you’re using that exemption efficiently. It’s a limited resource – you want to deploy it thoughtfully.
Friends Helping Friends
Many child-free individuals have built incredible networks of friends that function like chosen family. Your money can strengthen these bonds and enrich your life simultaneously – if done carefully.
You can do things like fund a group vacation, help with down payments so friends live near you, sponsor someone’s professional development or career change, or contribute to a friend’s medical expenses. You might even become the Bank of You and offer a private mortgage with more favorable terms than traditional lenders – something especially valuable in today’s higher-rate environment. I’ve seen clients get tremendous joy from using their resources to create shared experiences or solve problems for people they care about.
A word of caution: Money has this magical ability to transform perfectly normal relationships into awkward territory faster than you can say “terms and conditions apply.” When you help your best friend with his brilliant app idea, are you the generous friend or are you a seed investor expecting a return? When you chip in for your friend’s house down payment, are you giving them a start or offering an interest-free loan? And what happens when they decide to move?
The human brain is remarkable at creating completely different narratives about the same financial transaction. I’ve seen decades-long friendships strained because two people had two different mental contracts about what a sum of money meant. Have the potentially uncomfortable conversation upfront—it’s infinitely less uncomfortable than the misunderstanding conversation later.
I encourage people to write down their intentions and expectations – even for gifts – and share them explicitly. Sometimes this means creating a simple promissory note or gift letter. Other times it’s just a clear conversation: “This is a gift. I don’t expect repayment. I’m doing this because I value our friendship and want to see you succeed.” Clarity prevents resentment, which is worth its weight in gold.
Don’t Forget the Pets!
Your beloved cat doesn’t care about your money, but does care about who’s opening the fancy feast after you’re gone. You can actually set up pet trusts now, which sounds bougie but is actually just practical. I’ve seen these range from $5,000 set aside for basic care to multi-million dollar arrangements with dedicated caretakers and pet nutritionists (seriously, watch the Netflix documentary “Gunther’s Millions”).
The “Who Will Take Care of Me?” Question
This is the elephant in the room for many child-free people. While having kids is absolutely no guarantee they’ll take care of you in old age (just ask any nursing home administrator), not having kids does mean you need to think more deliberately about your care plan.
Some options to consider:
Healthcare Proxies and Decision-Makers should include trusted friends, family members, or professional fiduciaries who understand your wishes. Document these preferences thoroughly with advance directives, living wills, and durable powers of attorney. And then have the tough conversations to make sure everyone knows what you want.
Trust Structures for Personal Care can set aside funds specifically for your long-term care needs, with a trustee empowered to make distributions for your benefit. You can include surprisingly specific instructions – from your preference for private rooms to how often you want your hair done.
Professional Fiduciary Relationships should be established before they’re needed. Organizations like trust companies and professional fiduciaries can step in to manage financial affairs and coordinate care when necessary. Think of it as hiring surrogate children, except these ones actually do what you tell them.
Residential Planning deserves special attention. Consider the continuum of options from aging-in-place with support services to continuing care retirement communities. Many of my clients without children prioritize communities that provide lifelong care and built-in social connections.
Taking proactive steps earlier in life – like securing a spot in a high-end continuing care community with a refundable deposit – can be a smart move. Rather than leaving care decisions to chance or distant relatives, you maintain control over your living situation and care arrangements.
The “Die With Zero” Philosophy (Or Maybe Just… Less)
But what if you don’t care about a legacy? Bill Perkins wrote this book called “Die With Zero” that’s particularly relevant if you don’t have kids. The basic idea is that money is just stored energy waiting to be converted into life experiences, and you should aim to use it all up before you check out.
Without kids expecting an inheritance, you have more freedom to embrace this philosophy. Not literally down to zero (running out of money before running out of heartbeats is a bad strategy), but maybe “Die With Just Enough” is the child-free person’s sweet spot.
Money spent on experiences creates what Perkins calls “memory dividends” that pay out for the rest of your life. That African safari at 60 might be worth more to you than leaving an extra $15,000 to your alma mater.
I’m not saying go buy that dream Porsche tomorrow. I’m saying that without kids, the calculus of spending now versus saving for later might tilt more toward the “now” than conventional wisdom suggests.
It’s Your Money, Your Life, Your Legacy
The key is to be intentional. Default settings in finance, as in life, rarely fit everyone. And the default settings were definitely written with kids in mind.
Turn off the autopilot. Grab the controls. Chart your own course.
After all, it’s your money. Might as well make it work for your life, not someone else’s idea of what your life should be.
If anything in this post resonated with you, or you’d like to learn more about wealth planning strategies tailored to your specific situation, reach out on the contact page.
Disclaimer: The content provided in this blog is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as financial, legal, or tax advice. Wolf Pine Capital does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of any information provided herein. Please consult with a qualified professional regarding your specific situation before making any financial decisions. All investments involve risk, and past performance is no guarantee of future results.