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My parents are well off and I can't fault their work ethic or financial acumen.

However, they have never once helped me.

When my wife and I were trying to buy a house we asked them for help with a downpayment. They told us it's better to rent and save than buy. When they were that age, my Dad's parents lent them the money to buy a farm, and physically helped them build it, which they just sold for millions of dollars. They also tried, for a decade after my grandparents died, to tell the siblings that it was a gift, not a loan to be repaid to the estate. The only time they came out to help us was to patch drywall in an apartment.

We actually helped them to build a rental property on their farm and my retired mother wouldn't even babysit our toddler while I worked, so my pregnant wife (who insisted on working under the table while pregnant on mat-leave) had to juggle working from home and watching the kid. We had made a deal with my Dad to pay for the materials, property tax, utilities and a lease for the land and almost finished construction when we realized that my Mom had an entirely different deal in mind, that she never discussed with us, and was totally unworkable. So we backed out and got nothing.

Now that they're retired and have more money than they know what to do with, they want to just give it to us. Problem is, it's too late to be useful. I'm no longer at a stage in my life when I need anything because I've set everything up to be self-sufficient, and frankly, I don't want them thinking that this puts me in their debt because they would absolutely take advantage.