I am 43 and both my parents are 63 and recently retired. Dad worked as a heavy equipment operator his whole life and he has two pensions from the two unions he worked for. He also took social security "early" last year when eligible.
Mom was a part-time subtitute teacher her whole life. Never earned much money but does draw a small pension from the teachers union. She also began taking social security last year when eligible.
They have no debts and have (I think) modest assets in a 401k. Home and a small farm are paid for but not worth a lot as they live in rural Ohio.
Neither one knows much about money or investments but have lived fine their whole life without ever really being in trouble financially.
They have never asked me for financial advice and therefore I have never given them any. However, now that neither is working I am beginning to get subtle hits that they might be struggling a bit more than they expected. In particular my dad is frustrated with my mom because they UPS truck stops at the house 3-4 days per week with some more "junk" she has purchased online. I think she is mostly bored and gets some sort of "retail therapy" from this behavior. I don't feel like it is my place to ask her why she is spending money this stuff (she gives a lot of it to me and my two sisters).
I feel like I could possibly help them with various financial decisions that they will be facing in the coming years but they haven't come out and asked for it yet. Is there a good way to bring the topic up in a way that let's them know I am there to help without looking like I am nosing my way into their business?
Should I just ignore the topic until they ask for help? (I am worried they are too proud to ever ask for the help and it will eventually be too late)
Mom was a part-time subtitute teacher her whole life. Never earned much money but does draw a small pension from the teachers union. She also began taking social security last year when eligible.
They have no debts and have (I think) modest assets in a 401k. Home and a small farm are paid for but not worth a lot as they live in rural Ohio.
Neither one knows much about money or investments but have lived fine their whole life without ever really being in trouble financially.
They have never asked me for financial advice and therefore I have never given them any. However, now that neither is working I am beginning to get subtle hits that they might be struggling a bit more than they expected. In particular my dad is frustrated with my mom because they UPS truck stops at the house 3-4 days per week with some more "junk" she has purchased online. I think she is mostly bored and gets some sort of "retail therapy" from this behavior. I don't feel like it is my place to ask her why she is spending money this stuff (she gives a lot of it to me and my two sisters).
I feel like I could possibly help them with various financial decisions that they will be facing in the coming years but they haven't come out and asked for it yet. Is there a good way to bring the topic up in a way that let's them know I am there to help without looking like I am nosing my way into their business?
Should I just ignore the topic until they ask for help? (I am worried they are too proud to ever ask for the help and it will eventually be too late)