‘I Want My Inheritance Now’: Older People are Losing Their Life Savings to Family Members
As housing stress and cost-of-living pressures mount, adult children are asking parents to unlock their wealth early — or to stop spending it.
Illustration: Isabella Cotier for Bloomberg
After years of renting, retired Australian nurse Joan thought she was finally securing a permanent home. She handed over her pension savings of A$70,000 ($46,700) to a family member to build a small guest apartment in their backyard.
The plan was to live there for the rest of her life, free from the stresses of an unaffordable rental market, and then leave the apartment to her family. Instead, the arrangement collapsed within a year. The unit was unfinished — with no kitchen or functioning laundry — forcing her to rely on the house. Relations soured with her relative, who had since remarried, and the agreement fell apart.