If You Had the Money Would You Buy Your Child a House?

Last week I asked my readers if they would accept a gift from their parents. I wrote the post after learning of a friend who is about to receive a beach home from his folks. I appreciate the honest comments and emails that were sent to me. I wonder if I shouldn’t have also asked the opposite question, which is would you buy a large gift for your children?

I stumbled across an interesting article this weekend about Mick Jagger who, despite his wealth, does not believe he should buy homes for his three adult children. According to a recent CNN article, “Those who know Jagger well — including his oldest daughter, Jade, say that he strongly believes that children ought not think themselves entitled to their parents’ money and that they have to make their own way in life.”

His daughter Jade went on to say, “I was never a trust-fund child. Dad’s got a healthy attitude toward work. You have to look after yourself.”

So what do you think? If you had a lot of money, like Mick Jagger, would you buy properties for your children?

I imagine my husband and I will amass quite a bit of wealth throughout our lifetime and I want my son to understand that a lot of hard work and planning went into our bank accounts. At this point in time I can’t imagine buying him a home. I want him to experience the joy and pride of making it on his own. I also don’t want him to think that life is a cake walk.

5 thoughts on “If You Had the Money Would You Buy Your Child a House?”

  1. I know of some people who had their houses and other things paid for. I would honestly say that most of these people have no concept of money and it’s just a revolving door with them asking their parents for money. It almost always sets kids up for a disaster!

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    • That’s what I’ve seen as well. I’m sure there are exceptions to these rules, but I have never met anyone that is good with money and received sizable gifts from parents.

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  2. I friend of my brother’s had a grandfather that was a multi-millionare. This multi-millionaire decided to put his money into a trust fund and divide it up among his grandchildren rather than the children. They will receive the monet when they turn 18. I thought this was a great way to make sure that the family is secure but that there is no bickering among children regarding who gets what, and the kids are set for college.

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    • I have heard of this as well. You skip a generation and hand the money over to the next generation. It’s an interesting idea.

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  3. Absolutely. If I had enough to retire on comfortably and no concerns of dependency on my child should a health challenge occur, then I would happily be gift a house to my adult child. Why not? A mortgage limits a family’s life greatly.
    If I’d been fortunate and was set, I would give the gift of mortgage freedom willingly to my child. You can’t take it with you. Additionally, if my parents could leave me an inheritance or give me a free house, both equal, I’d take the free house. Inheritances many times come much later in life when they are less needed.

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