By Steve Williams For Daily Mail Australia
07:32 15 Jul 2024, updated 07:33 15 Jul 2024
A mother has revealed she is happy spending her children’s inheritance and doesn’t feel guilty about it.
Western Australian woman Trudy Wertheim, who is part of Gen X, said she has worked decades to provide for her family and now deserved to live how she wanted.
‘There are generations coming through that just don’t expect to work,’ she told Yahoo.
‘They expect to inherit or be given or bought a family home by their parents.’
She said many parents probably didn’t instill a strong work ethic in their kids, which may explain why some younger generations have a sense of entitlement.
Ms Wertheim sympathises with the younger generation who are doing it tough, but said her children in their early 30s totally support her.
‘They’ve never said to me, ‘We expect you to not spend your hard-earned savings, because that’s ours.’
She said her children’s attitude is a result of how she raised them and they just want her to be happy and enjoy life.
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Ms Wertheim said one of her children is renting, while the other has entered the property market and bought a home.
‘Maybe I should be giving the child that’s renting money to help her buy a house, but how is that fair to the child that already got into the housing market before this started?’ she said.
Ms Wertheim said she plans to enjoy her hard-earned money now before age catches up with her.
‘I don’t want to be in Bali at 80 and falling down and breaking my leg.’
She said her kids will not be left empty-handed.
She will leave her paid off property to her twins and her grandchildren will receive smaller amounts.
Ms Wertheim is part of a global trend known as SKI: ‘Spending Your Kid’s Inheritance’.
Critics have blasted the SKI trend as selfish, believing boomers and Gen Xers should be saving their money to leave for their children and not spending it on themselves.
Some argue they should be helping their children through the cost of living crisis and so they can get a foot on the property ladder.
Leanne and Leon Ryland said their sons shouldn’t be expecting much from their inheritance as they intended to spend the money on themselves.
Since retiring, the couple have spent $170,000 on luxurious holidays around the world.
‘We’ve done all the right things by investing in property, boosting up our super making sure that was healthy, going without a lot of things,’ Ms Ryland told told SBS Insight.
‘We’re not going be able to spend all this money so let’s do it, because in another 10 years we won’t be climbing the Great Wall of China.’
‘We won’t be going up Machu Picchu.’
Alex Ryland said he fully supported his parents.
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