This fall, college tuition isn’t the only financial responsibility parents will be taking on, but they are also supporting their parents. Hiring caregiver services from Illinois might help make holding up two households easier.
One out of seven middle aged adults provides financial aid to both their kids and their parents, and one out of five millennial children is supporting their parents. People are expected to help their children financially until they’re well off themselves, but are caught unprepared or off guard when they have to provide financial support to their parents, too. It’s already difficult enough to keep your own household up, but it’s even more difficult when you have to provide for both your children and elderly parents who need care.
Sometimes, “life just happens,” which is the reason why some people end up financially supporting both their kids and their parents. It may be due to old age, medical problems, or maybe they had too much debt and had mismanaged their money, didn’t save enough money for their retirement, or lost their jobs. These people are sandwiched, which is why they’re called The Sandwich Generation, between supporting their kids and their parents at the same time, which means that they’re putting their own financial future at risk. They’re finding it hard to say no, and most people don’t because they’re talking about the security of their family.
Here are some tips in financially aiding your parents.
Start with what’s important. Their basic and immediate needs should be tended to first, like their food, shelter, and medical care. This also means that you have to only help them with their needs, not their wants. Reducing assets by selling them should help cover some expenses, especially those that they don’t really need.
Downsizing can also be a good idea. Moving your parents into a smaller house will help you save on money, and will be an advantage to your parents since they’ll only be responsible for a small space. You can also consider consolidating your households, since it will be easier to maintain one than two.
Don’t cosign on any loans your parents have, or take on any of their debt. If you do, you’ll be the one the creditors will go after. It’s a better to just give them the money to pay off the debt rather than cosigning it.
If you gift your parents money, it’s your right to know where the money goes. This goes hand in hand with helping with their only their needs, and not wants. Don’t agree to any loans for business idea capital, or an unreasonable want from the furniture store.
However, to make sure if someone else’s finances is in order, you should also check if yours are. You’ll only be able to support someone else if you’re well off and not jeopardizing your financial stability. If you have plans that you don’t really need, you can get cheaper ones, or cut them off entirely to before touching your retirement contributions.
Millennial children are also supporting their parents because they choose to stay at home, and that’s one way children can help their parents who help their grandparents. What’s important is that the money should be going where it is supposed to go, and is properly managed and kept in check.
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