John Bogle thinks that the notion of leaving an inheritance is nice but certainly not essential.

The Vanguard founder suggests that paying attention to one's personal finances and standard of living in retirement trumps the bequest motive since adult children should be able to take care of themselves:

A lot of older people believe they should not spend their last dollar on the last day of their life. A lot of parents want to leave a nice little nest egg to their children. That's nice but not essential. I don't believe anybody should live in destitution so they can leave something to their children. They're adults. Most of them should be able to take care of themselves.

Source: U.S. News & World Report

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