Recently, as I was digging through piles of mouse-nibbled foreclosure notices and canceled checks in a caved-in chicken barn on the property that my grandparents had rented for the last 20 years, I was reminded of something.
When some people lose a relative, they gain real, material goods. It’s a bit uncouth, but the fact is that many Americans of a previous generation own homes because they received a substantial inheritance.
Which is kind of astounding — how could anyone die and have anything left over at all? In this economy? ...