In a society where the generational divide is often discussed in terms of technological savvy or cultural touchstones, a new trend is highlighting a more financial aspect of the gap between older and newer generations.

It's called SKI, or 'Spending Kids' Inheritance', and it's a movement that's gaining traction among older Australians, much to the chagrin of some in the younger generations.

The concept of SKI is straightforward: rather than saving and scrimping to leave an inheritance for their children, an increasing number of older generations are choosing to spend their hard-earned money on themselves.

This could mean travelling the world, indulging in hobbies, or simply enjoying a comfortable retirement without concern for what's left behind.

This trend, which some might label ‘selfish’, is sparking heated debates across family dinner tables and online. But is it as straightforward as it seems?

Older generations are spending their hard-earned money on themselves with the latest trend. Credit: Shutterstock

Trudy Wertheim, a single mum in her 50s, subscribes to the SKI philosophy. After years of hard work and dedication to supporting her family, she's looking forward to her retirement.

She believed that her children, now in their 30s, were supportive of her decision to use her savings for her happiness.

‘There is a whole generation of kids being raised, who perhaps their carers didn’t instil in them from an early age, that if you do work hard, you can have everything you want out of life and more,’ she said.

‘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.’

‘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”.’

She's instilled a strong work ethic in her children, and they've expressed that they want nothing more than for their mum to live her life to the fullest.

The SKI movement raises important questions about the expectations of inheritance and the responsibilities of parents towards their adult children.

Some parents help their children financially while still alive, perhaps contributing towards education or a house deposit.

However, as Wertheim pointed out, this can lead to its own set of complications, especially when trying to be fair to all children, regardless of their circumstances.

The debate is further complicated by the stark reality facing many young Australians today.

According to a 2020 report from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, ‘almost half’ of young Australians may not own property by the age of 54.

With house prices soaring and the rental market becoming increasingly unaffordable, many people's dream of homeownership is slipping away.

In the 1980s, older generations were entering the housing market at a time when the average wage was around $13,458, and the median house price was 2.9 times that amount.

Today, the average wage in Australia is $98,000 a year, with median house prices in Sydney and Melbourne reaching upwards of 10 times this figure.

While slightly more affordable in other capital cities, the disparity between income and housing costs remains a significant hurdle.

Supporters of the SKI movement argue that they've earned the right to spend their money as they see fit, and that younger generations should not feel entitled to an inheritance.

‘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, and 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.’

Key Takeaways

• Older generations in Australia are engaging in a trend known as SKI, or 'spending kids' inheritance', to use up their savings rather than leaving an inheritance for their children.
• The SKI trend is creating controversy, with some seeing it as unfairly depriving younger generations, while others argue that it encourages a necessary shift in mindset away from dependence on inheritance.
• A single mum, Trudy Wertheim, shared her support for the SKI philosophy, emphasising that she taught her children the value of hard work and did not feel obligated to leave an inheritance.
• There is an increasing difficulty young Australians face in achieving home ownership, with current house prices being significantly disproportionate to average wages compared to several decades ago.

Where do you stand on the SKI movement? Have you embraced the trend of spending your kids' inheritance, or do you plan to leave something behind for the next generation? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

 

[millicent haha]

Whilst I am happy for others to do as they see fit with their own money, I am of the firm belief that my money is mine to spend. It doesn't matter if I worked hard for it or not, I shouldn't have to justify doing what I want with my own money...in the context of all bills paid up and fairness to partners, of course. I don't like the acronym SKI because it implies greed on the part of the spender/parent and inheritance doesn't kick in until parents die.

 

[Rain72]

My kids don't have any inheritance for me to spend, and I don't believe any other kids whose parents are still living do either. Inheritance is an entitlement granted in the Will of a deceased person. And it isn't necessarily granted to their children either - although some very bad laws sometimes wrongly overturn the wishes of the deceased in favour of a greedy child or children.

What my husband and I have today is ours to spend on our retirement. Nobody else has any claim on it. If there is some left AFTER we die, our children and grandchildren will benefit. Lucky them! They should be deeply grateful for anything they receive but expect NOTHING. We earned what we have. It's ours and ours alone. We educated our children. We gave them every opportunity we could in life. We taught them the value of work and saving. We tried to teach good money management habits. We owe them NOTHING. And happily, they expect nothing.

And by the way, we bought our house in the early 70s and it cost us more than 7 times our income, for a 30-year-old run-down 2-bedroom cottage in need of extensive renovation, in the worst possible position on a highway in a country town. And the interest rate was 7.5% and rising. And we only had one wage and no childcare help to enable me to go to work. I worked nights on the weekends and took in ironing and sewing and made and sold tomato sauce from home-grown tomatoes. My husband worked two jobs. Anything to scrape up enough to get by, with a special needs child costing us a lot and no NDIS either!

 

[Vikster]

I agree inheritance all going well will not come in until the kids are older and they have worked hard to get their homes, I know the longer they wait the harder is to get a home, and this bank of Mum & Dad we do not have the money to be that, we never received a big inheritance one had to be split between a few and the other side the other child got it all. And yes it was what they wanted to do with their money, so everything we have we have worked hard for it no new furniture to impress I don't know who. Anyway we are just at retirement and we are worried that we will not have enough to last so if necessary we will use our home as a fund to get money.
When my father died I had to cancel his mobile they were the big bricks back then so I was told I had to send the death certificate and identification, I asked why and he said they peoples childern were cutting off the parents phones as they were spending their inheritance. Absolutely discusting I think. I never expected Mum & Dad to stop enjoying their life to make mine easier. Anyway I agree SKI is a greedy saying it should be enjoying our hard work and sacrifices over the years.
Sorry for the long message I do feel strongly about this. I suppose it all comes down to respect for the parents

 

[Gsr]

Our kids are much better off than we have ever been already so they don’t want or expect us to leave them an inheritance. We started our married life with nothing much, worked hard, I’m still working part time, never got any inheritance more than $5,000, and now own everything we have. Our kids tell us to enjoy what we have, do what we want, and if anything is left after we pass away leave it to the grandkids. We are about to do new wills as we own a home and have some investments. We are going to leave half our estate divided between our four grandkids, it will give them a good start in life, and half divided between our two kids. Our daughter and her hubby have no kids and don’t want any so will eventually also leave their estate to our four grandkids. Both our kids know our plans and are happy with them even telling us we can leave it all to the grandkids if we want, the grandkids don‘t know they will get a good sized inheritance from us.

 

[GrannyJA!]

Is it actually you kids inheritance? Or is it your kids inheritance only if you choose to leave it to them? As far as I know, my kids don't 'expect' to inherit anything. They are aware that they will probably have to deal with any physical property and share the proceeds/and or debts. They expect, as per their upbringing, to see us living on our own income/savings and not the government for as long as possible.

 

[Wally53]

Spend, spend, spend. What's left they can have. They all get the house to use

 

[Winks]

My kids don't have any inheritance for me to spend, and I don't believe any other kids whose parents are still living do either. Inheritance is an entitlement granted in the Will of a deceased person. And it isn't necessarily granted to their children either - although some very bad laws sometimes wrongly overturn the wishes of the deceased in favour of a greedy child or children.

What my husband and I have today is ours to spend on our retirement. Nobody else has any claim on it. If there is some left AFTER we die, our children and grandchildren will benefit. Lucky them! They should be deeply grateful for anything they receive but expect NOTHING. We earned what we have. It's ours and ours alone. We educated our children. We gave them every opportunity we could in life. We taught them the value of work and saving. We tried to teach good money management habits. We owe them NOTHING. And happily, they expect nothing.

And by the way, we bought our house in the early 70s and it cost us more than 7 times our income, for a 30-year-old run-down 2-bedroom cottage in need of extensive renovation, in the worst possible position on a highway in a country town. And the interest rate was 7.5% and rising. And we only had one wage and no childcare help to enable me to go to work. I worked nights on the weekends and took in ironing and sewing and made and sold tomato sauce from home-grown tomatoes. My husband worked two jobs. Anything to scrape up enough to get by, with a special needs child costing us a lot and no NDIS either!

I was 17 when we bought land & built a house at 22yrs old, so we had no holidays & didn’t go clubbing etc like others our age. By the late 80’s our interest rate was 17.5%. I aso had 2 jobs. My 30yr old son has ASD & ID. He is thankfully now living a great life due to NDIS, but prior to this scheme I spent my days doing speech & OT therapy with him & worked nights & weekends. As long as this scheme remains sustainable he will be ok after I’m gone. While I’m still working part time I help my sons where I can.

 

[LeahI]

An inheritance to me was what super rich people left, as the there was no way they could spend all of their money. Now it is almost an expectation that you make enough money for yourself and then some to leave behind. Our kids know they'll get it all when we pass and lucky for them our house will give them a decent sum. But they certainly aren't looking forward to it, because we'll be DEAD. Rather have the parent than the money. My mum died only a few years ago at age 90, and my sister and I got a reasonable sum each, but I'd rather have my mum.
Also a large portion of what I did get has already gone to my kids to help them. It means more to me to actually see them use my money.

 

[mylittletibbies]

People should be entitled to spend their own money how they please and not have greedy entitled children feeling put out because it is reducing their inheritance.
It is not"theirs".
I am comfortable, but not overly wealthy. I do like to help out now, when I can, rather than the kids having to wait until I fall off the perch.
One third of my home I put in my daughter's name many years ago to ensure she is taken care of.
The rest I intend to leave to my youngest son, who is a good worker and provider for his family, and also an inheritance for each of my grandchildren which they will not have access to until they reach the age of 30.
By that age I hope they will be sensible enough to use it wisely, to give them a good start in life.
At the same time, I do not intend to spend my old age scrimping and saving and going without.
I know they will be grateful for whatever they receive.

 

[Sherza]

It’s not selfish of the parents. The kids are being selfish. Their parents have earned the money and they can spend it however they want. The kids need to get off their backsides and earn their own money

 

[marni]

If you check inheritance is when someone passes away. There should be no discussion on the money whilst you are alive, as it is to do with what you want, whilst alive. What you leave in your will is someone’s luck. Our step father decided to leave it to his buddies, others to their favourite charity.

 

[CristinaV]

How selfish of the children expecting an inheritance!
These selfish individuals should be told to go and work as hard as their parents did to earn the money.

 

[Sammihp]

I helped towards my kids deposit on their home and here and there with things like kids swimming lessons. They will get what’s left when I die BUT having scrimped and saved so as not to be a burden in my retirement, I intend to enjoy it and I don’t believe they will begrudge me that. However, I witness all the time adult spoilt entitled ‘kids’, who expect their parents to jump when they want help rather than being more self sufficient- so I ask - which group are more selfish? The entitled spoilt adults or the grandparents who have supported, worked hard and saved for their retirement?????

 

[Lunagazer]

I’ve noticed the growing belief that the younger generations are “owed” something by their parents.
Unless you were born into generational wealth, the idea of “passing on” property or money only became a possibility from the late 1940’s when there was a growing affluence. Even then, it was only from bloody hard work & frugal living that there was anything to leave.
It was the remainder of the war generation that introduced such things as social security, something that the millennials take for granted.
Expect nothing & hope for the best but, work kids….WORK! If you wait to be given everything, you may be sadly disappointed.

 

[Ellev]

My children's father passed away suddenly a few weeks ago. Left nothing to them. They weren't expecting anything nor did they want anything.
Being brought up in a single income family I'm sure they know there won't be much from me. I'm sure they will handle it after all I'm leaving behind grown adults.

 

[OldBells]

I don't get this entitled attitude, its not their inheritance unless we leave it to them. I don't know about anyone else but my parents worked hard all their lives to raise us, give us a good home, feed us and had no savings. Sure, when they passed we got the Family home but we weren't expecting it.
I remember my in laws having the attitude that they had to leave an inheritance so much so that we had to literally force them to buy a decent car as they aged, which was just wrong. They, as we, worked hard for what little money they had and shouldn't have had to think that way.
We help our kids as much as we can when they need it and provide childminding, rent free board when needed but they earn more than we ever did.
Yes, costs are so much higher but we survived on second hand everything until we could afford to buy new, people these days don't want that, they want everything brand new.
It baffles me how the cost of housing is so high yet people are out there buying, are they depending on inheritance to pay it off? Don't live beyond your means if you don't have the money to do so.
Having said that, this country should take a leaf out of other countries books and stop overseas people from buying up our housing. You are not allowed to buy land or housing in places like China, Greece, Denmark if you are not native citizens so why do we allow it?

 

[Colleen M]

I always have wondered where the figures for a basic wage and the cost of housing in the 80's comes from. We paid $210,000 for our home in 1989, and then the interest rates went up to 17.8 %. The figures in this article suggest the average house cost around $40,000. Some weeks i struggled to find the $2 that i put into my girls dollarmite account, but never missed. They received that money when they left home, as well as us buying them new furniture and white goods. Both girls also got brand new cars from us when they got their licenses. I think they have been given enough, time to stand on their own two feet. My residual money is going to a not for profit animal shelter,the children can have the house!

 

[mylittletibbies]

I don't get this entitled attitude, its not their inheritance unless we leave it to them. I don't know about anyone else but my parents worked hard all their lives to raise us, give us a good home, feed us and had no savings. Sure, when they passed we got the Family home but we weren't expecting it.
I remember my in laws having the attitude that they had to leave an inheritance so much so that we had to literally force them to buy a decent car as they aged, which was just wrong. They, as we, worked hard for what little money they had and shouldn't have had to think that way.
We help our kids as much as we can when they need it and provide childminding, rent free board when needed but they earn more than we ever did.
Yes, costs are so much higher but we survived on second hand everything until we could afford to buy new, people these days don't want that, they want everything brand new.
It baffles me how the cost of housing is so high yet people are out there buying, are they depending on inheritance to pay it off? Don't live beyond your means if you don't have the money to do so.
Having said that, this country should take a leaf out of other countries books and stop overseas people from buying up our housing. You are not allowed to buy land or housing in places like China, Greece, Denmark if you are not native citizens so why do we allow it?

Totally agree, there would be a lot more housing available if only Australian citizens were allowed to purchase, making prices so much more reasonable.
If this can be done elsewhere, why not here??

 

[Daibhin]

I agree inheritance all going well will not come in until the kids are older and they have worked hard to get their homes, I know the longer they wait the harder is to get a home, and this bank of Mum & Dad we do not have the money to be that, we never received a big inheritance one had to be split between a few and the other side the other child got it all. And yes it was what they wanted to do with their money, so everything we have we have worked hard for it no new furniture to impress I don't know who. Anyway we are just at retirement and we are worried that we will not have enough to last so if necessary we will use our home as a fund to get money.
When my father died I had to cancel his mobile they were the big bricks back then so I was told I had to send the death certificate and identification, I asked why and he said they peoples childern were cutting off the parents phones as they were spending their inheritance. Absolutely discusting I think. I never expected Mum & Dad to stop enjoying their life to make mine easier. Anyway I agree SKI is a greedy saying it should be enjoying our hard work and sacrifices over the years.
Sorry for the long message I do feel strongly about this. I suppose it all comes down to respect for the parents

My parents thought one should earn their own money, not expect it to come from the parents years of working and that the years of caring, feeding, clothing and paying for out of school extras was payment enough.