A shockingly selfish trend is gaining in popularity in Australia but one mom says it’s only fair.
Boomers are embracing a movement called SKI or spending kids’ inheritance, where parents actively set out to spend all their money so there is nothing left for their children.
While this seemingly cruel mindset will anger lots of Gen Zers whose only hope of getting on the property ladder might be inheritance, others say that the problem is with young people.
Trudy Wertheim says that there needs to be a mindset shift among younger generations who expect to get something for nothing.
Speaking to Yahoo, she said: “There is a whole generation of kids being raised, who perhaps their careers didn’t instill in them from an early age, that if you do work hard, you can have everything you want out of life and more.
“There are generations coming through that just don’t expect to work. They expect to inherit or be given or bought a family home by their parents.”
Wertheim is a single mum and said she worked extremely hard for decades to support her family.
She is now in her 50s with children in their 30s and she’s started to think about her retirement.
She says her children are supportive of her SKI policy.
“They’ve never said to me, ‘We expect you to not spend your hard-earned savings, because that’s ours,’” she said.
“Never has that come out of their mouth. My children have said to me, ‘Go and live your life. Do what you want to do. We just want you to be happy mum.’”
Wertheim said that she instilled a hard work ethic in her children from an early age, something not all parents do.
Some parents are choosing to gift money to their children that they can use on education or a house before they die.
But Wertheim said that can present issues too as one of her children has bought a home but the other is still renting.
“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.
“I’ll have to give them money as well. I feel like society is putting that pressure on me.”
Wertheim added that many pensioners needed to travel while they were still healthy as traveling to Bali when you’re in your 80s presents its own challenges.
Online supporter of the SKI movement say the younger generations need to suck it up.
“My kids are happy for me to spend it. They can have our house, which is more than I got when my parents passed away,” wrote one.
“They earned it they can spend it. So many entitled people,” said another.
A third added: “The kids inherit your house. Your money is your business to spend how you like.”
Many young people will never own their own home
According to a report in 2020 from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, “almost half” of young Australians will not own a property by the age of 54.
In the years since the report was published house prices have surged and have remained stubbornly high despite crippling interest rates.
The rental market has also become more expensive meaning it is even more difficult to save for a deposit.
Buying property is a lot more unattainable than it was in say 1980, when many Baby Boomers were buying their family homes.
Back then the average wage was around $9,110 and the median house price was 2.9 times that.
However, the average wage in Australia is now $66,330 a year, with the median house in Sydney and Melbourne costing upwards of 10 times this amount.
House prices are slightly more affordable in other capital cities.
The median house price in Adelaide is $558,190 while it is $536,027 in Perth.
