How much money do I give to my parents if they're not good with money?

Hi all, I'm a fresh grad with a take home pay of 2.8k. I was wondering how much money I should be giving my parents given that they're not the best with money (living paycheck to paycheck with multiple personal loans and credit card debts)

My parents don't do any investing and I'm not even sure if they're covered under insurance. Every time I try to broach the topic of insurance I get shunned away or told to "not worry so much"

Also what other methods of giving back should I be considering?

Discussion (7)

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Tee-Ming Chew

04 Dec 2020

Co-founder at Seedly

Hey anonymous, couple of things you could do...

Stop incurring loans/debt, start tracking expenses - one way to help them acheive this is to help them build a habit of tracking their expenses. Once they know what they are spending every month, help them identify on items that are not essential or explore alternative (e.g expensive vs cheap coffee)
Share with them the importance of insurance especially H&S! Insurance is not a individual matter and it is also something that can help bring peace of mind to the child (which is you). Start pitching to them that it is necessary for them to have coverage!
Lastly on how much you should be giving your parents - should focus on helping them clear the debt and help them build up a retirement fund (e.g channeling the allowance to their CPF or investment product? But please do your own due dilligence when it comes to investing!). Even better, offer to help them cover the insurance cost (if that is stopping them from getting one)!

Hope that helps!

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Takingstock @

04 Dec 2020

First thing - check they have hospitalizations policy, if they don't have, help them buy. Don't have to choose like private hospital grade which is the most expensive. Main thing is get it as early with as few exclusions (eg high BP / diabetes) as possible.

Second thing, which most people MAY not agree with... Find out how much they have for cpf accounts - RA etc. I would suggest do some amount of top ups to their RA if it's not frs yet. So in terms of budget split, you don't hand all to them in cash. the reason for suggesting this is you don't know how much debt they have, until you do, and until they choose to do something about it, the cash you give them may not go towards the debt. It would be better inside cpf which is protected against bankruptcy and ensure a longer stream of cash payouts

Third is the credit card debt. There is no point to clear the credit card debt if they are not committed to controlling the spending. It will be the most painful part, and probably most arguments. Take it a step at a time. If you can get them to key in their ic and stuff, ask them sign in and get the credit bureau report first to get a feel of how much they owe, and the current credit rating. The report only 6.42 per person. I am sure you can afford this. Use the report as a checklist to pare down debt. Start with paying down and cutting a card at a time. The card cut liao, cannot sign up again. So work towards leaving them with one card that they choose most to keep.

If possible, get them to reduce the credit limit on the last card to not more than 30% of their pay - with a limit so low, it should be something they can pay next mth. If they cannot, the damage and interest to pay won't be as bad than with the current credit limits they have. They can't spend further unless they pay it back too. Controlling the credit limit is the key.

Remember interest on credit cards is about 26 to 28% per annum. If you can cut it down to zero, its as good as an investing for 28% returns.

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Wei Teng Dk

04 Dec 2020

If you have spare money to give them, buy insurance for them instead (if they don't already have). Minimally, get those that covers hospital/medical bill. Term plan is optional.

Pay with your medical CPF and/or with cash. You need to get them onboard, even if you lie about the premium amount (tell them it is cheaper than what it actually is) because the last you want to happen is to let them die without treatment (touchwood!) because you cannot afford their medical bill.

Then help to pay the debt if there is still extras you can spare. But I think insurance is still of higher importance.

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Z T

03 Dec 2020

I would recommend to help clear their debts (especially credit card, high interest if you overlooked the payment) instead of giving them money. They actually have enough money to get by their monthly expenses. By helping them clear their debt, you are easing their burden getting them closer and closer to being debt free. Once debt free, they would have even more disposable income as they no longer require to pay for the debts.

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