WIBTA If I go behind my parent's backs to family for money

Asshole

Parents have been fully retired since 2009 although my dad retired earlier. They have always been conservative and frugal with money. Small 2500 square foot home that has been paid off for two decades and two newish cars (2016) that are owned outright. Growing up, it seemed like my dad footed the bill for most things although i'm unclear on what went on behind the curtain between them.

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The financial advisor they've been with for the last 25 years is incredibly conservative and their motto is that "Everyone makes money when the market does well, we pride ourselves on losing LESS than what everyone else loses when the market does bad". Following that logic, they've had an average return of 7% a year since they started investing and they still haven't fully recovered since the 2008 crash where they lost close to 30% of the portfolio value.

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My dad has a pension of about 5000 a month. At their peak, they had combined assets of roughly 1.8 million not including the house. The division of assets was nearly equal with my dad having slightly more than my mom. Over the past 10 years, his share of the investments has been going down while my moms has gone up and now the division is mom: ~1 million, dad: ~500k for a total of 1.5 mill. The only change that I could see was that 6 years ago my mom shifted one of her investment funds to an Ameritas variable annuity life insurance policy that had a single premium of 300k with a 500 per month payout and is valued at 604k as of 5/31. So my dad is losing money while my mom is gaining money.

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Furthermore, my mom always blames my sister for the reason that my dad's balances have been diminishing. She claims that my sister is always asking my dad for money and he can't say no, and if the trend continues, that he will outlive his retirement investments.

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My dad's extended family is incredibly wealthy. Forbes billionaire list wealthy. His two brothers and him struck out on their own and each made their own accomplishments. They didn't take part in the family industries. My grandfather, now deceased, established a family trust in his will that is managed by his sister (my great aunt). The trust is to be accessible for anyone in the family who may need it.

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I'm thinking of contacting my great aunt and explaining the situation to them to see if the trust can help. I know of only one other family member that has used resources in the trust when in dire need. Additionally, I know for a fact that my dad would be very upset if I did this without consulting him but I know that he would never ask for help of his own accord because thats just not who he is. I am not in a position to support him myself but I do plan on doing so when I can.

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WIBTA if I go behind his back to ask his extended family for financial help that I know they can provide?

Posted Jun 4, 2019, 3:39 PM UTC · edited

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