> At least my kids can inherit it and start from a more prosperous place.

How does that work, timing-wise?

Like my partner and I are in our mid-30s and both have parents who own houses, and with good luck with their health there won't be anything to inherit for several more decades.

The end of life care industry will take every single cent you have, and state paid end of life care doesn't kick in until you are destitute. Middle class people passing stuff down to their kids isn't a thing anymore.

You can transfer $12 million with no gift tax, so if you want to pass something down instead of reserving it for end of life care, it's no problem.

https://www.schwab.com/learn/story/estate-tax-and-lifetime-g...

Obviously that's more beneficial to people with a lot of assets than to someone with less, but for instance, a parent might choose to gift the house they live in to their children well prior to end of life care being a consideration (of course that will be very situational; do they want to stay in that house, do they have a good relationship, etc., etc.).

Medicaid won't consider the primary residence when examining assets to pay for care, but it may try to capture some of the estate after death.

In most states you have to transfer any asset or cash many years before you need state paid end of life care, otherwise they will charge you a "penalty" for basically the value of whatever you transferred, or deny you outright. So you basically have to accurately predict when you will need a few months of state paid end of life care (more like a room to die in for $6000 a month) years in advance.

I might just retire to a humble shack in the backyard once my firstborn is ready to start a family. Early inheritance.

Serious suggestion: Make sure you buy it somewhere climate-resilient. There are a lot of places in the US that have some really awful projections for even 100 years from now, let alone later than that.

> I won't be able to buy a house until I'm in my 40's or 50's, but it's better than never being able to afford a house, I guess. At least my kids can inherit it and start from a more prosperous place.

Buy a house outright or just afford the down-payment? Those are 2 very different things.