I think it's about a healthy balance...spend it all in your golden years and there's nothing left for covering your own potential need for care in your final years, and if your kids care about you then that's a burden that falls on them. Nothing wrong with enjoying life, but I personally find it hard to believe that anyone who is well off would want to burn every last dollar before they go knowing that generational wealth is, IMO, going to become more important in the future based on how things are going if you want your family to have the same opportunities afforded to them that you had. I'm 33, no idea what will or won't be left to me from my and my wife's parents and my financial planning for my future assumes nothing, but I'll say that I imagine I'll find joy in my later years being able to make a financial impact in the lives of my heirs (at least, that's the goal).Well, you can’t really leave your heirs with debt.
You could leave them with less or no inheritance but they shouldn’t expect anything anyway.
I guess what I’m saying is I don’t see anything wrong with any creative ways to live your life with what years you have on this earth anyway that you want using your money and assets. I suspect more and more the population is feeling that way instead of obligated to leave it all to your kids or relatives..
One personal example: my wife's grandmother paid for college for all her grandkids, and now sets up 529s for every one of her great grandchildren after birth so that she can cover their college expenses after she is gone. She has a 7th grade education, and sees the value of higher Ed for her family. She could have kept and/or spent those funds for her but has instead chosen to make a true and valuable impact in now 3 generations below her. My 2 cents.