I agree there, although my parents were not so wealthy that raising me didn't entail major sacrifices. They probably worked several years each longer than needed/wanted for financial reasons, and my childhood would have been the biggest single expense for them. All of that is, of course, entirely expected when becoming a parent.I don't think the article was about rich people giving their riches to their children. For many families who do this it is not about giving away money that they don't need anyway.My parents were extremely generous throughout my childhood and continued through early adulthood. After college was debt free and even had small savings account from money I made through work. They continued to hit me up with $500 a month for a few years, tapered off to $1000 each birthday, now it is mostly free meals once a week. I don't understand that point of having more money than you need, so completely agree with the concept of giving money to family and charity if you can. Why not see it do some good while you can enjoy it?
But all of this came after early childhood lessons about the value of a dollar saved, of hard work, and self-sufficiency. Not sure it would have been smart to give money without first establishing that foundation.
The worst stretch was 2007-17 where my parents started approaching house poverty due to spending down retirement faster than expected. They bounced back later, significantly, but during that time I kept dropping hints that they should take care of their own needs before adult children. As an adult child I started to feel guilty about birthday checks from them at that time. Maybe some adult children also don't feel great about the arrangement.
Statistics: Posted by z3r0c00l — Sun Apr 21, 2024 6:25 am — Replies 190 — Views 12885