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glutamine03
Guest
What is our financial obligation to parents who have been fiscally irresponsible with their finances?
Assumptions:
Child: Married, and the family are able to provide financial support (e.g. $15,000 a year); however, the money could be used for other non-luxurious/wasteful expenditures (e.g. charity, investments for retirement, kids college, etc.) as opposed to vacations
Parents: While not living extremely extravagant lifestyle, they are just fiscally ignorant/irresponsible. They never put in the effort to save. They take a day to day approach to life and don’t/won’t/can’t plan for the future. Whatever they make, they spend. Mentality is that they don’t make enough money to save (except that others who make the same level of income are able to save adequately). Fortunately, no consumer debt.
So in essence, you have two different lifestyles. In normal circumstance, I would say that you make money, you can spend however you’d like. I cannot impose my lifestyle onto yours. However, with parents, this becomes a bit more complicated as their lifestyle can have an impact on their children’s life.
In the scenario above, what is the child’s financial obligation to the parents? Let’s say the parents retire, then encounter some financial hardship (e.g. medical issue) and need something like $20,000 to cover the costs. Should the married child cover that cost? Or should the parents sell their house that they can’t really afford and move into an apt, using the proceeds to cover their cost.
It’s these types of scenarios that I’m trying to work through.I think at a minimum, you provide for their basic needs. Ensure that they have shelter and food. So in the example above, I’d think the sell house and move into apt is the way to go. Is the child still loving and honoring their parents in this case?
Assumptions:
Child: Married, and the family are able to provide financial support (e.g. $15,000 a year); however, the money could be used for other non-luxurious/wasteful expenditures (e.g. charity, investments for retirement, kids college, etc.) as opposed to vacations
Parents: While not living extremely extravagant lifestyle, they are just fiscally ignorant/irresponsible. They never put in the effort to save. They take a day to day approach to life and don’t/won’t/can’t plan for the future. Whatever they make, they spend. Mentality is that they don’t make enough money to save (except that others who make the same level of income are able to save adequately). Fortunately, no consumer debt.
So in essence, you have two different lifestyles. In normal circumstance, I would say that you make money, you can spend however you’d like. I cannot impose my lifestyle onto yours. However, with parents, this becomes a bit more complicated as their lifestyle can have an impact on their children’s life.
In the scenario above, what is the child’s financial obligation to the parents? Let’s say the parents retire, then encounter some financial hardship (e.g. medical issue) and need something like $20,000 to cover the costs. Should the married child cover that cost? Or should the parents sell their house that they can’t really afford and move into an apt, using the proceeds to cover their cost.
It’s these types of scenarios that I’m trying to work through.I think at a minimum, you provide for their basic needs. Ensure that they have shelter and food. So in the example above, I’d think the sell house and move into apt is the way to go. Is the child still loving and honoring their parents in this case?