This is a very touchy situation for everyone. As I see it having an elderly mother, an elderly father-in-law and a recently deceased mother-in-law, I suspect your MIL is very concerned about if she's going to have enough money to live above the poverty level in the coming years. My FIL has a fair little nest egg but goes without because he refuses to dip into it as it's for his old age--he'll be 86 later this month. He doesn't want to sell his investments because he inherited them from his father and wants to leave them to my husband and his sister so again, he goes without.

It also sounds to me like she's looking for some reassurance that you and your husband are going to be there for her in the coming years. If you're smart, you'll say 'we're going to take care of you, that's who!' But you have to mean it, and if her relationship with your husband is at all iffy, she knows if she can count on him or not. Parents know those things...

I wouldn't be at all surprised if you MIL also didn't understand how giving family money can lead to a host of problems. You'd think it would lead only to love and happiness, but it generally backfires.