How much $$ to leave kids?

NJ, you aren’t doing them a favor encouraging them to live above their means. Plus you should enjoy yourself while you can because you don’t know how long you will live. When a couple I knew were both dying they were glad they had taken many nice vacations through the years because they weren’t going to live to retire.
 
So, it's OK for your kids to live beyond their means as long as they live within their means + your means?

Non sequitur

My children have been well educated and i strongly doubt they will live beyond their means. Perhaps, I am not as eloquent in my writing as you nor as good as stating what I mean. My apologies. I was simply trying to say I would feel uncomfortable living high on the hog if my kids were struggling, and then yes I may agree to help them to a limited extent.
 
Flyfish1 said:
My children have been well educated and i strongly doubt they will live beyond their means. Perhaps, I am not as eloquent in my writing as you nor as good as stating what I mean. My apologies. I was simply trying to say I would feel uncomfortable living high on the hog if my kids were struggling, and then yes I may agree to help them to a limited extent.

I think most of us understood that there's a difference between a child who doesn't look for work and wants someone else to pay for luxuries, and one who is going to school and working and parenting and working hard to improve their lot, but the results may take months or years to show. One should be cut off, and the other probably deserves some assistance *if* you can spare it.
 
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The greatest gift I can give to my children is freedom from having to supply their destitute parents’ needs.

Dang, I'm writing that down. Great comeback for when they ask us to invest in their cannabis shop.
 
Dang, I'm writing that down. Great comeback for when they ask us to invest in their cannabis shop.

My kids have that freedom whether I am destitute or not. After they are on their own they have no obligation to me other than respecting their elder.
IMNSHO.
 
Thoughts

I can't comment on the $ amounts not knowing your situation overall. Just insure you are not short-changing your own retirement since you are checking out of the workforce pretty early. I suspect you are very savvy in that area so I am probably preaching to the choir.

As for our only child, we put her through college completely so she came out with zero debt. She also took it easy on us since a public school in that state had one of the best programs in the country for that major, so our costs were minimized. We paid for her wedding, along the lines of $12K or so total, and it was a great affair with about 120 guests at a great establishment. Your figure of $75K is way outside what is needed to have a really memorable affair. I have also floated the two mortgages for the two houses she has owned to date, since I did not want her getting screwed by a bank. The first house she paid in its entirety with interest when she moved, although I didn't want the interest but it was rather what she wanted to do. Her current house she knows that I only want the mortgage amount back with no interest, so that is how we have it set up.

The wife retired at 55 and I joined her five years later at 60. We have a great life, travel a lot, and barring anything unforseen, I hope to leave our daughter a reasonably good inheritance. Bottom line - I don't put a $ figure on what we do for her, we just do what is right in our hearts. Your way, while different, is very generous for your kids and hopefully will be appreciated by them as much as our way was by our child.
 
My adult kids all work hard, don’t fritter $ away and take great care of my grandchildren. We paid off all student loans a couple years ago. One DS and his wife work very hard at 3 jobs combined, care for grandchild w/o daycare and have careers that are very important (IMHO); manager at regional food bank with farm and community college teacher. Other two kids are successful engineer and lawyer. I have no problem providing more support to child who makes less than other two because I see how they all work hard, care for family and serve others but some jobs, no matter how important to our community, just don’t pay that well.

We are blessed to be able to occasionally ease financial stress for our various beloved family members.
 
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