The Barefoot Investor has argued a young woman was entitled to her $30,000 inheritance after she complained her mother was withholding it from her.
Olivia, 26, wrote to Mr Pape that her mother was withholding the sum left to her after the death of her great aunt over fears that she would improperly use it.
She said her plan of putting the money into a high-interest savings account to help save for a home deposit with her partner wasn’t good enough for her mother.
‘She says you would tell me to invest it in shares or use it to pay off my HECS. Is that true?’ Olivia’s letter to Mr Pape reads.
‘Until I agree to the “Barefoot Way”, she’s not going to let me have it.’
Mr Pape took the young woman’s side in the debate explaining that she appeared to already be following the ‘Barefoot Steps’ in achieving financial freedom.
‘In the matter between you and your mother, I find in favour of …. YOU,’ Mr Pape wrote in his News Corp column.
Mr Pape said Olivia’s plan to save for a home was step four of his nine step plan.
A mother has withheld $30,000 of inheritince left to her daughter from her great aunt over fears she wouldn’t invest it similarly to the Barefoot Investor Scott Pape (pictured)
‘You should definitely put the inheritance towards your house deposit savings in an online saver,’ he wrote.
After passing step four, Mr Pape urged Olivia to increase her superannuation contribution to 15 per cent which will be ‘tax-effectively investing long term’.
‘Well done, and please say g’day to your mum for me!’ he wrote.
If the Barefoot Investor’s advice helps Olivia access the inheritance, it will only be about a sixth of a standard 20 per cent deposit on the average Aussie home.
Australian Bureau of Statistics data revealed the average cost of a home rose by $14,300 to $959,300 in the first quarter of 2024.
The cost to lock in a mortgage increase substantially rose for those looking to buy in capital cities where property prices are skyrocketing.
New data from Domain revealed a 20 per cent deposit for a median-priced home in Sydney has jumped by $125,424 in the last five years.
It showed buyers now need to save $332,000 – compared to $207,066 in June 2019.
Meanwhile, the amount needed for a median-priced house in Melbourne has climbed from $165,212 to $213,761.
The daughter, Olivia (stock image), gained Mr Pape’s approval because she planned to put the money towards a deposit to purchase a home
Compare the Market economic director David Koch warned the growing deposit could see young Australians priced out of the property market.
‘With property prices climbing tens of thousands of dollars in some parts of the country, a lot of buyers feel that they are falling behind while trying to save that 20 per cent deposit,’ he told Yahoo.
Brisbane had the second-highest recommended deposit increase by $81,498 to $195,293.
That was followed by Adelaide at $78,563 to $186,994, Perth up $64,313 to $170,000, Canberra up $58,143 to $208,286, Hobart up $41,039 to $137,211 and Darwin up $12,012 to $117,009.
