I spend my time and money caring for my aging mother — yet she gave my brother $100,000. First a knee replacement, then a fall.’ “I know my brother isn’t a villain. I know my mother isn’t a villain.
That’s what makes this so hard.” (Photo subjects are models.) /iStockphoto For most of my life, I have been the daughter who tells everyone that my mother’s money is her own business. She is 79, widowed and financially comfortable, with about $900,000 in savings and investments, a paid-off house worth around $600,000, Social Security and a small pension. She doesn’t live extravagantly, but she has never had to worry about running out of money.
My younger brother is 50. All three of us are financially independent, though my brother has always earned less than my sister and me. About three years ago, my brother and his wife wanted to buy a house.
They’d saved some money, but not enough for a down payment in the area they wanted. My mother gave him $100,000. Copyright ©2026 MarketWatch, Inc.
All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8 As diesel prices surge, Tesla makes its big play for the trucking market Nearly half of adults under 30 live with their parents. The financial fallout could last for decades. 3 things Micron investors need to watch as the stakes get higher I’m 62 and retired with $7M. Quentin Fottrell is MarketWatch's managing editor for advice columns and writes the column The Moneyist.
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