Longevity and succession: before the heirs comes the autonomy of the person who lives longer

When succession is discussed, the conversation often begins with the division of assets: who should inherit the house, how to help the children, which tools to use to avoid conflict. Yet one preliminary assessment is missing, and it becomes more important as life expectancy rises: which part of that wealth must remain available to its owner. A pension may last many years, during which income, housing needs and the need for assistance all change. Directing too many resources to heirs too early can reduce the freedom to choose how to live, where to live and who to rely on for help. Responsible succession planning must therefore begin with financing one’s own longevity, including personal wishes and the possibility of changing course.

The data help to grasp the scale of the issue, without turning it into an individual forecast. According to Istat, as of 1 January 2026 people aged at least 65 accounted for 25.1% of the Italian population; those aged at least 85 numbered around 2.5 million. Estimated life expectancy at birth for 2025 reaches 81.7 years for men and 85.7 for women. These figures do not show how many years remain for someone already retired: for planning, what matters is survival at the ages already reached and, above all, the variability of individual paths. The economic risk also lies in outliving the period for which resources were arranged, perhaps facing rising costs precisely when it becomes harder to generate income again.

Available capital is not the same as the wealth you own

The first task is to reconstruct the family budget, distinguishing the value of assets from their actual usefulness. A home occupied by its owner contributes to quality of life, but it does not automatically cover monthly expenses; a stake in a business may be highly valuable and still difficult to sell; a rented property generates income, from which taxes, maintenance and vacancy periods must be deducted. Debts, guarantees given and help already promised to relatives must also be included in the picture. The ability to support a long old age depends on net cash flows and on having resources available when they are needed, not on the simple total of asset valuations. A care fund, for instance, must be usable without waiting for a sale or for agreement among several co-owners.

A purely illustrative example makes the point clear. With a net pension of 2,200 euros a month and ordinary expenses of 2,700 euros, the shortfall is 6,000 euros a year: over twenty-five years that amounts to 150,000 euros, before considering inflation, returns, taxes and changes in spending. If a later stage required an additional 1,800 euros a month for care, effectively added to the ordinary budget and already net of any support, five years would require another 108,000 euros. These are not estimates of average market costs or a forecast of anyone’s life. They are meant to show why resources that appear plentiful may shrink, and why a gift should be assessed together with the ability to withstand adverse scenarios, without counting the same expenses twice.

Preparing for retirement and managing withdrawals

In the years before leaving work, the plan should compare different retirement dates and the expected net income, checking contribution records and any uncovered periods. A professional activity maintained gradually can ease the transition, but it should not be treated as a certain source of income for an indefinite time. The same applies to support for children: willingness to help is not an irrevocable financial commitment, and those who can assist today may face difficulties of their own tomorrow. Supplementary pension schemes can contribute to the result, taking into account costs, taxation, payment methods and the protection of any survivors. The point is to build an income that matches the expenses one intends to keep and those that are unlikely to be reduced.

After retirement, the way investments are read also changes. During the accumulation phase, new resources can be added and markets allowed time to recover; when the portfolio finances everyday life, selling after a steep fall can consume a larger share of capital and undermine the ability to recover. This is the risk linked to sequence of returns, which makes it insufficient to think only in terms of averages. A withdrawal plan must link investment maturities to foreseeable expenses and keep accessible resources for unforeseen events, without assuming a withdrawal rate that works for everyone. Inflation also needs to be addressed explicitly: with a hypothetical constant annual price increase of 2%, a set of expenses worth 24,000 euros today would cost about 35,700 euros in twenty years. This is a mathematical simulation, not a forecast of future prices.

Care must be financed before it becomes urgent

There is no age at which everyone moves from full independence to fragility. Needs may change slowly or after a sudden event, and the same person may retain some abilities while losing others. For this reason, it is more useful to imagine concrete situations: occasional domestic help, daily assistance, continuous supervision, transfer to a facility. Costs vary with location, the number of hours needed, the regularity of the employment relationship and the condition of the home. It is also necessary to distinguish healthcare spending from spending on personal help: what is needed to live safely does not always coincide with what the public system funds. Family members’ time also has a cost, when it requires reducing work activity or making frequent trips.

Public benefits must be checked against the person’s actual conditions and the services available in the area. The Universal Benefit introduced on a trial basis from 2025 to 2026, for example, is not a general support measure for all older people: it requires at least eighty years of age, a recognised very severe care need and further conditions. These include entitlement to the attendance allowance and a social-health ISEE (Equivalent Economic Situation Indicator) not exceeding 6,000 euros. The supplementary care amount, equal to 850 euros per month under the current rules, is tied to permitted uses. The conditions are set out by INPS (National Social Security Institute). In a long-term plan, a trial measure due to expire on 31 December 2026 cannot be treated as guaranteed income for the decades that follow.

LTC policies (Long-Term Care insurance) can help finance the loss of self-sufficiency, but their value depends on the contract terms. One must understand which daily activities must be impaired for the benefit to be paid, how the condition is assessed and what limitations apply to pre-existing illnesses or conditions. Waiting periods, the age at entry and the duration of the promised annuity or service also matter. A nominal benefit that remains unchanged may lose purchasing power, while buying cover only when the need is close may be more expensive or impossible. The insurance choice must therefore be coordinated with the wealth available: neither does a policy make a personal reserve unnecessary, nor does an adequate reserve automatically make any contract worthwhile.

The home must remain a usable resource

The home deserves an economic analysis as well as an emotional one. Stairs, rooms spread over several levels, distance from services and maintenance costs can make a house burdensome even if it has been perfectly suitable for decades. Acting in advance makes it possible to assess accessibility works, a different internal layout or a move without the pressure of an emergency. Subdivision can also unlock value or create income, when it is technically and legally possible and there is local demand. But it must be weighed against total costs, timing, permits and the actual living quality of the resulting units. Keeping a house only to hand it on intact to the heirs may be a legitimate choice, but it must remain sustainable for the person who continues to live there.

The sale of bare ownership and the reverse mortgage require particular care because they bring forward resources against an asset that is central to the owner and to future succession. In the first case, ownership is transferred subject to the right retained by the seller, often usufruct; in the second, a debt secured by the property is taken on, with terms that may cause the amount to be repaid to grow over time. The money obtainable, housing rights, maintenance obligations, the events that make the loan due and the consequences for heirs all need to be compared. Donating the property while reserving usufruct also protects a right of use, but it does not in itself create the liquidity needed to pay for care. These are difficult decisions to reverse once carried out and must remain consistent with the future need for autonomy.

Different families require different protections

Planning must begin with the real composition of the family, including new unions, previous marriages and children from different relationships. Cohabitation does not automatically confer the succession status of a spouse or of a party to a civil union. The law grants cohabitants specific protections, including in relation to the common home in certain circumstances, but these do not amount to an inheritance share. To leave assets to them, therefore, the available legal tools must be assessed, while respecting the rights of forced heirs, the family members to whom the law reserves a share of the estate. Separation and divorce also have different effects and require case-by-case review. Beneficiaries of policies and testamentary provisions should be revisited after family changes: a choice that remains formally valid may no longer reflect current intentions.

A will remains a central tool for consciously distributing the disposable portion of one’s wealth, within the limits of the shares reserved by law. But it is not enough to assign each child assets of similar estimated value: an indivisible apartment, a business and a portfolio that can be liquidated easily imply different burdens and different possibilities of use. Donations already made must be reconstructed because they may affect succession relationships. Taxation is also part of the plan, but saving tax does not justify an arrangement that leaves the testator without resources or the heirs forced into conflict. Discussions with the notary make it possible to translate intentions into deeds consistent with the family framework, also checking the sustainability of the allocations over time.

Life insurance policies allow a beneficiary to be designated who, under Article 1920 of the Civil Code, acquires a personal right to the benefit. That mechanism, however, does not allow every policy to be presented as a way to freely remove wealth from heirs’ rights. Article 1923 expressly preserves, in relation to premiums paid, the rules on collation, imputation and reduction of gifts, as well as the protection of creditors provided by law. The structure and actual nature of the contract remain relevant. Before allocating substantial sums to a policy, one must therefore assess the insurance purpose, the policyholder’s remaining resources, the designation of the beneficiary and the possible impact on forced heirs. The idea that insured capital is always untouchable oversimplifies a matter that requires careful legal scrutiny.

Protecting decisions when it becomes hard to make them

A long life can include periods in which a person is present and aware but struggles to keep up with payments, investments or administrative matters. In other cases, the ability to understand and decide may diminish. Addressing the issue in advance means identifying trustworthy people and suitable tools, without confusing an operational delegation with the power to carry out any act whatsoever. The law allows a support administrator to be designated in advance through a public deed or authenticated private agreement, but appointment remains the responsibility of the guardianship judge, who defines the powers and may depart from the designation in the cases provided for by law. The system must protect the person while preserving, as far as possible, their autonomy: it is not a matter of informally handing over management of all assets to relatives.

Healthcare decisions follow separate tools and rules. Advance treatment directives (DAT), governed by Law 219 of 2017, allow an adult who is capable to express their wishes regarding healthcare treatments in anticipation of future incapacity, after receiving adequate medical information, and to appoint a proxy. They do not give that person a general power to manage property and investments. In practical terms, however, an orderly archive of bank accounts, contracts, deadlines and professional contacts can reduce mistakes in difficult moments. It must be accessible to authorised people, with secure procedures, without resorting to the indiscriminate sharing of credentials. Continuity of management is prepared before the need arises and requires responsibilities to be understandable.

A project to be updated throughout life

Situations involving people who live alone require specific attention, without assuming that the presence of a spouse or children automatically guarantees care. In Istat projections based on 2025, people aged at least 65 living alone number around 4.6 million; in the median scenario they would rise to about 6.6 million by 2050. This is a projection, not a certainty, but it shows the scale of a need that already exists. For women, the plan may have to support a longer period of life and independent management, to be compared with the pension income actually earned. What makes the difference is the network of help concretely available and the possibility of buying services when that network is not enough, not the mere demographic or family label.

The wealth adviser therefore still has a role even in later stages, when they must ensure that liquidity, payments and investments remain consistent with the person’s needs, coordinating with the professionals responsible for legal acts and healthcare aspects. The plan should be reviewed after bereavement, separation, a significant gift or a change in health; even without major events, it is useful to check expenses and resources periodically. The inheritance projected today remains an estimate, because life may require more capital than was imagined. The result of good planning is measured not only by the wealth transferred: it is also visible in the ability to keep choosing, without having to ask heirs to return what had been advanced.