Why do you assume that the homes will be inherited? Often people sell their homes to finance their retirement, or pay medical bills.

Assisted living does not come cheap.

Yes, more than a few will be lost that way. From what I've read though boomers as a whole want to stay out of assisted care facilities, probably because many of them saw their own parents rot in such places. My own parents are near the leading edge of the boomer cohort (they're 75) and it's a common feeling among their friends.

Also, the grim reality is that you have to live long enough to need assisted living. A life expectancy of 78 sounds good on paper, but by the time you get to your late 60s and early 70s people in your age bracket are dropping pretty quickly.

They may want to stay out of assisted care facilities, but late life decline makes independent living difficult to impossible for many.

They may try to put it off as long as possible, but it will catch up to them. And then it does not take long for the costs to consume their would-be estate.

And the irony is that it's the system their generation built for their parents.

Keep in mind that the life expectancy for a 70 year old is often a bigger number than the average life expectancy.

For example in the US a male has a life expectancy of 76.22 (https://www.ssa.gov/oact/STATS/table4c6.html), but a 70 year old male has a life expectancy of 84.59 years.

But that doesn't take away from your main point about people wanting to avoid that situation.

Thanks for pointing out what almost no one else does. Younger generation out here with their beaks open hoping to catch that lucky break of passed down Boomer wealth, but I think you're right on. Healthcare will capture a huge amount of that wealth, part of it is being inflated away, and there's always the looming threat of increasing taxes or changes in laws to make sure Millenials aren't so lucky.