facebookIf your parent(s) do not have enough for retirement due to their lifestyle and financial decisions, is it their fault or should you help them? - Seedly

Anonymous

15d ago

Retirement

If your parent(s) do not have enough for retirement due to their lifestyle and financial decisions, is it their fault or should you help them?

Just because they are your parent(s) and from an asian context, it seemed like it's a norm to help to show filial piety.

Discussion (17)

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Pls consider is it they dont want to or they cant. Prob due to lack of financial literacy, things that look clear to you, they have have issues grapsing. Esp if they are not actively working as in above 65 years, I feel at least a minimum is necessary. Unless if you tell me that since 12 years old or so, you have not taken a single cent from them. If you do live under their roof, then at least for a min of 12 years before they exit their early existence, you will feel proud of yourself too for being able to give to them

You can help by advising them to do the following:

  1. Cancel subscriptions and memberships they don’t use—especially if they renew automatically.
  2. Treat saving like paying a bill - Once they have an idea of what you spend in a month, you can then set a budget for their savings. Treat saving like a monthly bill you have to pay i.e. utilities or mobile phone bill. As they make the payments for the month, include a line for savings and dedicate as much as possible to it once the essential costs are.
  3. Track everything! Use online tools or apps (I use this) to make sure you keep track of all your expenses—that means every coffee, household item and loan you need to pay off. Highlighting spending habits and being on top of what goes out of the bank account each month should help them stay on top of their finances and avoid spending beyond their means.

Support to what you can.

And the support need not be blind. It can come together with education especially if it is due to lifestyle and financial decisions.

Without education and right remediation steps, the problems of poor lifestyle and financial decisions will persist and it will become a bottomless pit.

At end of the day, do what you can.

If you are willing to help strangers and friends, why not help your parents

Agree with most of the comments below that (1) it can be their fault if they didn't plan for their retirement well - but they also aren't born in a savvy generation like we do now (2) helping them out or not is not a question, it's a matter of whether you can as they are family - putting yourself in their shoes, starting out in kampongs etc and having no financial management and maybe not even schools - would you want your kids to say you are poor in financial decisions hence you are left on your own?

It depends on a lot of factors, your relationship with your parents, your financial situation (have ...

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