I would not consider myself as a grinder, as i have a job and some social life also, but the point is: if i want to play with lvl 31 char, i will, but i wont mind losing any XP if i choose to retire few days after...this would be of no help for the casual players, or how you call them these days.
The point is, i am planning on retiring the minute i get to 31, as i am planning my builds for lvl 30, so i am having blast getting the last lvlup before i can start all over again, and yeah, low lvls are quite effective these days, with people wearing light armor and such, i was able to start killing on lvl 11.
The retiring is making the lvling faster, by a LOT. It might not look like it, but with multiplicators and such, i am getting more xp on x4 than my never retired friend on x5, and that makes quite a huge difference. I do not see reason you should be able to transfer anything but gold/items to next generation, they removed WPF transfer in order to prevent beasts with 400wpf in whatever slicing thru you like hot knife thru butter.
Guys that used to get uber high lvl and kill everyone pretty much by looking at them and you had to gang up like 5-6 to bring such player down, i do not see those anymore (i mean ye, some skilled guys still own a lot), but its due to their ability, not high lvl and stat stacking.
You say this is the suggestion of a casual player, but casual players don't feel this pressure to retire you just described. Only 110% optimizer munchkins feel like that.