Michael Moore
Recycles dryer sheets
Outtahere said:I use to be concerned about that seeing that I was unable to have children but then someone made the comment to me about all the elderly who's kids park them in a home then never visit. Don't count on your kids to be your backup plan, they just might have plans of their own.
My grandmother used to give me that "but if you don't have kids who will take care of you in your old age" line. It didn't work.
It is another of those "do you feel lucky, punk?" deals. When I was working in the SSI program at Social Security I saw plenty of elderly people with well off kids who couldn't be bothered with them. Of course, it may be that they were really crappy parents and they did a good job of alienating their children. I've seen some people who were parents who had a view of their parenting skills and the esteem they were held in by their kids that appeared to be wildly different from the reality of the situation.
I think your best bet is to not plan on anyone else helping out. Then if they do, it is just extra icing on your retirement cake.
As to the topic, if you look at the numbers it seems there is no way that children can do anything but be a negative factor in FIRE. You've got $X going out for them, and you are unlikely to even break even on that with the tax deductions. I doubt that many children generate a positive cash flow to their families. There may be an intangible ROI, but that doesn't seem likely to be counted in one's FIRE portfolio.
This doesn't mean that people should be encouraged to not have children because of that - everyone has their priorities. Children were pretty much a negative number on our priority list, and we've got no regrets about having avoided them. If someone else wants to have them, it is no skin off my nose as long as they aren't bothering me. Parents who let their little monsters loose on an unsuspecting public are a different topic that I won't go into at this time.
For every "oooh, I love my child and have no regrets" story I bet I can find an offsetting "oooh, I hate my child and I was a fool to have had him/her". Isn't that just the way life is?
cheers,
Michael