Hello, families! At CommonCents Financial Planning, we believe money is fuel for your dreams, including creating a lasting legacy for your loved ones.

Gifting inheritance to adult children early—while you’re still around—can be a rewarding way to see your hard-earned savings make a difference now. But it’s not without risks.

Here are three considerations we guide families through to decide if early gifting aligns with their goals.

1. Weigh the Emotional Benefits
We often see families light up when gifting early allows them to witness the impact.

For instance, helping with a $150,000 house deposit can ease your child’s entry into the property market, especially amid rising costs. We help calculate how much you can gift without harming your retirement funds, ensuring you maintain your lifestyle.

This approach can help foster gratitude and stronger family bonds, turning money into shared memories rather than a distant estate payout.

2. Address Potential Risks of Misuse
We caution that without clear intentions, gifts can lead to unexpected outcomes.

One family we worked with gifted $20,000 to each child without conditions; one paid down a mortgage, while the other spent it on tattoos which caused a great deal of frustration.

It’s important to discuss expectations upfront—perhaps tying gifts to debt reduction or education.

This could prevent resentment and preserve your relationships, as unchecked gifting might erode the work ethic you’ve tried so hard to instill in your kids.

3. Factor in Centrelink and Financial Impacts
We always review how gifting affects Centrelink benefits.

You probably know that you can gift $10,000 annually without penalty (to a maximum of $30,000 over five years), but larger amounts like $100,000 count as assets for five years, which has the grating effect of keeping your age pension lower whilst you don’t even have the cash anymore!

We run scenarios to show the trade-offs so you can make an informed decision and be prepared for whatever the outcome is going to be.

Keep your overall Legacy goals front of mind

Early gifting can strengthen your legacy, but it requires thoughtful planning.

We suggest starting with a family discussion, assess the risks and also consult on the Centrelink outcomes.

At CommonCents Financial Planning, we’re here to model outcomes and ensure your generosity benefits everyone.

Contact us to explore how early gifting fits your family’s future!