Major Tom
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I only have one kid, and she's furry. She gets all the food and treats she wants. There is no chance that she will ever move out of the house, get a job, and begin supporting herself 
My parents supported me through University, which wasn't a burden in the UK in the 80's. I believe the higher education finance system there has become less socialized since I left but back then, if you were accepted by a University for a first degree, you received full support for tuition, accommodation, books and food. I think there were some upper income limits for parents but, as I remember, most students in middle-class families qualified to receive this aid. If you were careful, there was a little left over for beer and fun too. When I went home between semesters, my parents gave me full room and board. I would occasionally get a job in the summer for extra fun money. After graduation, I came back home, whereupon my father looked at me, and said, "I know you don't need me to tell you this, but you're on your own now." Several others who I told this story to thought that was a bit harsh, but I didn't think so. I was in my early 20's and very keen to get out into the big outside world and support myself. My Dad's words were very welcome, because they fitted my plans exactly. He did have a lump sum set aside to give to me when I married, but that never happened.
Mum and Dad led a comfortable middle-class existence, but wouldn't have had anything left over to help their grown kids financially. We all made our own ways. On moving to the US, I noticed that parents seemed to give their kids a lot more stuff. A good example of this is cars. In the UK (in the 70's and 80's at least), only a few kids would get their own cars as soon as they were legal to drive. Of the few in my class who did, they were always older used vehicles. Not necessarily beaters, but quite close sometimes! On moving to Los Angeles in 1986, I noticed that it seemed to be part of the culture that parents bought their kids their first car. Lots of teenagers had their own cars - and they were often really nice ones. I remember my manager, a Scottish feller, commenting that a lot of his 18 year-old employees had nicer cars than he did!
I come from the tradition that parents give their kids room and board until they have finished their education. After that, they are expected to provide for themselves. Times have certainly changed. There seems to be a lot more spare money flying around nowadays. The contrast I noticed could also be due to socioeconomic/regional differences too. After all, I did move from a small English village directly to Los Angeles.
My parents supported me through University, which wasn't a burden in the UK in the 80's. I believe the higher education finance system there has become less socialized since I left but back then, if you were accepted by a University for a first degree, you received full support for tuition, accommodation, books and food. I think there were some upper income limits for parents but, as I remember, most students in middle-class families qualified to receive this aid. If you were careful, there was a little left over for beer and fun too. When I went home between semesters, my parents gave me full room and board. I would occasionally get a job in the summer for extra fun money. After graduation, I came back home, whereupon my father looked at me, and said, "I know you don't need me to tell you this, but you're on your own now." Several others who I told this story to thought that was a bit harsh, but I didn't think so. I was in my early 20's and very keen to get out into the big outside world and support myself. My Dad's words were very welcome, because they fitted my plans exactly. He did have a lump sum set aside to give to me when I married, but that never happened.
Mum and Dad led a comfortable middle-class existence, but wouldn't have had anything left over to help their grown kids financially. We all made our own ways. On moving to the US, I noticed that parents seemed to give their kids a lot more stuff. A good example of this is cars. In the UK (in the 70's and 80's at least), only a few kids would get their own cars as soon as they were legal to drive. Of the few in my class who did, they were always older used vehicles. Not necessarily beaters, but quite close sometimes! On moving to Los Angeles in 1986, I noticed that it seemed to be part of the culture that parents bought their kids their first car. Lots of teenagers had their own cars - and they were often really nice ones. I remember my manager, a Scottish feller, commenting that a lot of his 18 year-old employees had nicer cars than he did!
I come from the tradition that parents give their kids room and board until they have finished their education. After that, they are expected to provide for themselves. Times have certainly changed. There seems to be a lot more spare money flying around nowadays. The contrast I noticed could also be due to socioeconomic/regional differences too. After all, I did move from a small English village directly to Los Angeles.
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Looking over the paperwork for the loan, there was virtually no limit to my liability (theoretically, about $100K, but that could have sky rocketed under certain conditions.) Guess what. The business went bust. Not sure how he ever got out from under. His next venture - same thing - did well until his partner absconded with the church funds - er, well, you know. His third attempt did very well, he also bought a house which he made a fortune on. Then he blew it all on a farm which, to this day, I don't know if he is out from under it.
