Would
you spend the kids’ inheritance?
 The other day I
asked my husband what he would do if he won the lottery.
I could see he wasn’t interested in giving an answer so I
volunteered one. “Would it be a
large country house with lots of land to use for a second home?”
(I know he would never live in the country on a permanent basis.)
“Only if we
could afford staff for the upkeep,” he said absentmindedly.
“I’d
give most of it to the children”,
I said, bucking the trend to spend it all on holidays, second homes and
other frills and thrills.
Spending
the Kids’ Inheritance
is supposed to be what today’s richer pensioners do.
A recent report showed that 53 per cent of people with £200,000 or
more to spare are over 65. And
instead of giving some of it to the children to get them on the property
ladder, they spend it all on themselves.
Is
this selfish?
Yes, though that doesn’t mean it has to be wrong.
People who work all their lives and make money through careful
investment and savings, have a right to do what they like with their
earnings.
Some
parents take the view
that they don’t shell out once their children are no longer dependent
and are old enough to earn a living. It’s
part of growing up, they say. Time
for the children to stand on their own feet.
Part of the character-building experience.
But
what do you do if your
hard-working daughter and son in law, who have plenty of built character,
desperately want to renew their unhygienic kitchen or replace their car
which is always breaking down? Or – another example – your daughter
needs expensive IVF treatment which the young couple can’t afford?
And
does it make sense to
watch your children pay rent when they could be paying off a mortgage if
they had the money to put down a deposit?
Like
many other parents, we
helped our children buy their own homes. We are still prepared to help out
at times, giving a loan without interest when it is needed, subsidising
holidays by renting a villa to accommodate children and grandchildren.
The rest is ours
for our own pleasure (though giving is a pleasure too).
And also for our old age.
Because
the irony is that
while most parents are happy to have their children as dependents, we
don’t want to be dependent ourselves. I
did say I’d give most of the money to the children if I won the lottery,
but definitely not all of it.
What
do you think about spending the inheritance?
Share your views in laterlife
forum or email me:
helen@laterlife.com
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Talkback is a regular
feature in laterlife.com run by journalist and author Helen Franks. 
