Inheritance impatience exposes generation of Australians to financial abuse as $5.4 trillion wealth transfer looms

Older Aussies are being pressured to hand over their fortunes in a grim shift in the early inheritance trend. (Source: Getty/Yahoo Finance)

Older Australians are suffering financial abuse inflicted by their own children and grandchildren, who are hungry to get their hands on an early inheritance. Giving money away to family members before death has gaines traction as younger generations struggle with the cost-of-living and housing crisis.

Those unable to make ends meet or get onto the property ladder have been gifted tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. But Advocare, a not-for-profit organisation based in Western Australia, has seen a shift from gifting, into expectation, and sadly to a demand.

Advocare regional team leader David Thompson told Yahoo Finance that inheritance impatience has become a growing issue for Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation.

There is an impending $5.4 trillion wealth transfer due to begin over the coming years as these two generations offload their assets and savings to their younger counterparts either before they die or after they pass.

There are significant considerations to weigh up in giving an early inheritance, and Thompson said older relatives are being pressured into giving away their fortunes without much care for how that could impact them.

He has been shocked by cases of financial elder abuse emerging from this grim new trend, with one Australian pressured to hand over $200,000 to a younger relative.

“You’d be surprised how many cases where the main factor for the abuse continuing is because of family obligations,” he told Yahoo Finance.

“The older person is not going to put their foot down because they know that it’s going to have a negative impact on the abuser.”

Have you been a victim of this and want to tell your story? Email stew.perrie@yahooinc.com

Advocare has seen a 20 per cent increase in elder abuse this year alone and just in WA.

The elder abuse helpline received 1,649 calls in the last 12 months, which is one every operating hour, and 80 per cent of those related to a family member being the abuser.

The organisation said this type of financial abuse can be as small as taking your parent’s card under the guise of doing grocery shopping for them, but buying some items for yourself.

It can also start when younger people help out their older relatives set up their online banking or certain online accounts.

“All of a sudden, they’ve got the bank details or they can see how much money they have and they’re not doing anything with it,” Thompson said.

“Younger people might think that this money is far better to be repurposed for them.”

This is how Gen Z, Millennials, and Gen X assert their power and knowledge of certain technologies or systems over their older counterparts, he added.

Data from Finder has revealed what Aussies are expecting when it comes to inheritance.

“The abuser gets a taste for the money initially, for something that is really required in their eyes, and then it just becomes a habit, and they lean on the fact that mum and dad still want to support them and don’t have any other use for the money,” Thompson said.

But he revealed that financial elder abuse can get far more extreme.

He said an older Aussie sold her unit to afford to move into an aged care home, which came with “significant” costs.

She suffered from cognitive impairment and Thompson alleged her daughter used that to their advantage.

The child said they were really struggling with their finances and desperately needed help.

The older woman eventually gifted a large sum of money to help her daughter out.

But this got flagged with Centrelink because it went over the gifting limit, and the older Aussie was kicked off the payments that helped her afford her aged care home.

You can find out about these limits here.

“She’s now in this situation where she’s got no money, and she has a debt, and no one’s going to support her,” Thompson said.

“When you pull back the layers, she was financially abused by the daughter because she wanted to support her family, even when she was in this situation where she needed to think about herself.

“But the daughter either didn’t care or didn’t take that into consideration.”

Thompson said he understood younger Aussies were under significant financial pressures.

Whether it’s saving enough money for a deposit for a home, trying to afford to start a family, or even just keeping up with rising rent and grocery prices — it’s tough going for many.

But he has been concerned some young people look at inheritance as their right.

Advocare’s David Thompson has been ‘shocked’ at some of the cases of financial elder abuse recently. (Source: Facebook)

This was echoed by National Seniors Australia, with CEO Chris Grice warning all Aussies to treat their older counterparts’ money with respect.

“It is a gross sense of entitlement based on the assumption that the relative is owed money or assets, which are not theirs,” he told Yahoo Finance.

“They haven’t earned it. They haven’t made sacrifices to build it. And while a lot of individuals pass on income to younger generations through inheritances – there is no obligation to do this.”

Advocare has highlighted several warning signs that financial elder abuse is either about to start or is already underway:

Younger people giving their grandparents or parents ultimatums to pressure money to be handed over

Convincing their older relatives that gifting property, other assets, or money to them is in their best interests

Taking advantage of their parents’ dependence on them to manage technology, like internet banking, online shopping, or subscriptions

Gaslighting parents to convince them they’re confused and require assistance to manage their money

Council on the Ageing (COTA) Australia acting CEO Corey Irlam said no one deserves to live in fear that their finances could be taken or misued by someone they trust.

“Financial elder abuse is far more common than people realise, and sadly, it can sometimes start with a trusted family member, carer or friend,” he said.

“It’s time we stop treating elder abuse, including financial crimes against older people, as a private matter – it’s a serious issue that deserves urgent national action.”

Financial site Mozo discovered 75 per cent of parents are giving their kids money for a home deposit without expecting it to be repaid down the line.

That’s a big jump from the 33 per cent who said the same back in 2021.

Mums and dads are now giving, on average, $74,040 to their child to help them get on the property ladder.

One in three parents felt some sort of emotional pressure to become the Bank of Mum and Dad when their kids are buying property.

Huge sums of money are set to be transferred to younger people in the coming years, thanks to Baby Boomers and those in the Silent Generation. (Source: Getty) · Laura Reid via Getty Images

Mozo’s report found 3 per cent of parents are taking out a loan themselves or using a credit card to give their kids the cash boost. This had caused some parents to delay their retirements in order to give their kids a leg up.

Finder research revealed one in four Aussies, equivalent to 5.8 million people, had their bank balances bolstered by an inheritance payout recently.

This money has given some people “real financial momentum”, whereas others it’s been just enough to “plug the gaps”.

Additional data from the consumer group showed two in five respondents, equivalent to 8.3 million people, admitting they would rather receive their inheritance while the family member was still alive instead of waiting until they died.

Roughly 28 per cent of Aussies are expecting an inheritance of more than $100,000, while 20 per cent think they will receive between $50,000 to $100,000.

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