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29th Nov 2024

‘I resent my parents for burning through money that should be my inheritance’

Nina McLaughlin

“My inheritance is being drunk through a straw in a coconut in the Caribbean!”

Inheritance is always a somewhat touchy issue, but how would you feel if your child began to resent you for spending your own money?

Well, that’s exactly what one anonymous figure wrote about for the Mail Online, claiming that they had begun to begrudge their parents for spending money during their retirement rather than using it to help support their kids.

The author explained that their parents were spending a lot of money on holidays, with trips including far flung places such as Thailand, New York and Costa Rica.

However, the 34-year-old writer explained that they were growing “more resentful” with each trip their parents went on.

“It is not a pleasant thing to admit, but the fact is their dream holidays are draining my inheritance,” they wrote.

They went on to explain the wider situation – we all know there’s a cost of living crisis going on, and that the wealth gap between generations seems to keep widening.

The writer used this to question who was in the right when it comes to their family’s wealth.

“Who is being selfish? Us for wanting them to save their money so we can one day have it? Or them, for splurging it all so freely on themselves?”

They went on to explain that their parents had told them they would leave the remainder of their savings to their two children, but that the amount of travel they are doing now must be eating up much of these finances.

“At 34, I am still renting and living hand-to-mouth,” they wrote, adding that their financial situation would be unlikely to improve even if they managed to purchase a property, as “there will be no way out [of the debt] without help.”

They went on to ask how they would ever be able to afford to have kids without the financial help of their parents: “Do they want to go on holiday more than they want me to be able to have and bring up children?”

They concluded by saying that 70 percent of millennials were depending on inheritance, per Moneyfarm.

However, not all parents seem to be spending their savings, with an estimated 60 percent saying they are cautious with their money in order to have some to leave behind, with 80 percent saying they will leave all their money to their kids.

Image source: Dennis van Zuijlekom/Flickr and Burst/Pexels