Has anyone seen a close relative completely change after retirement/pension age?
My aunt is in her early 60s and started receiving her pension a few months ago. She has always been quite materialistic, if I'm honest. Most conversations revolved around money, purchases, or what people owned. Every single time we used to visit her she would show new clothes, kitchen appliances, etc.
For years, she and her husband were comfortably off, largely because his family supported them financially. My aunt's father-in-law would often pay for unexpected expenses, holidays, and generally help them out. He died earlier this year, and there was a lot of family drama over the inheritance. They ended up receiving much less than they had expected, while her sister-in-law inherited most of the estate.
At the same time, we've had a fortunate year ourselves. We sold one house and managed to buy another at a very good price because the owners wanted a quick sale. We didn't need a mortgage, and the house is already worth around £50k more than we paid.
Ever since the family found out, my aunt has almost completely stopped communicating with me. She always has an excuse not to meet, ignores my messages and phone calls, and has become very distant.
We finally saw each other yesterday, and I was genuinely shocked. She was rude and accused me of only caring about money because we'd bought a house. It felt completely out of character, and I left feeling really upset and confused. She knows we were working hard all our lives, usually between 2 or even 3 jobs ,it's not the situation that we "got" money as a gift/inheritance.
Part of me wonders whether she's struggling with the reality that her financial situation has changed so much, especially after losing the support they had for years.
Has anyone experienced a relative suddenly becoming resentful or distant after retirement or a change in their finances? Am I reading too much into it, or does this sound like jealousy, grief, or something else?