Several times during the ongoing discussion of financial independence on this site, readers have asked about how they, as young and financially stable professionals, can help their parents who have given them so much. Parents are often very uncomfortable about such situations, as they view it as a reversal of the parent-child relationship that they

As a parent of a young child, I’m already struggling with the question of whether or not I should pay for my child’s post-secondary education, and how much I should pay for if I do. To put it simply, there is no easy answer to the question; if you were hoping to be told what

For many young people, one of the biggest fears of financial independence revolves around what happens in the event of a disaster. Should you expect to be able to move back in if something goes awry? Will they provide financial assistance? Or are you on your own? Although it is best to expect no assistance

As a parent, there is a strong likelihood that at some point, your child will fail at their goals during young adulthood. Their situation may even become dire, and as a loving parent, you may feel a very strong desire to jump in and rescue your child. Before you do that, consider the following advice:

For some, deciding when to cut financial ties is easy. In my situation, it was the day I left for college: other than birthday and Christmas gifts, I was basically on my own after that (though my mother would irregularly send me small amounts of cash with the purpose of “going out and having fun”

Earlier today, I discussed methods for parents of young adults to talk to their children about money. Now, I’m going to tackle the opposite direction: how can a young adult (a college student or a young professional) discuss financial matters with their parents? Many college students dread talking to their parents, mostly because they believe

Many of my friends during my college and early post-college years were swimming in debt, some of them to the point of being scared to open the mail. Whenever I would suggest talking to their parents or guardians about it, their faces would freeze with an additional layer of fear, as though it was the

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about how to teach my son about money. I’ve looked at a lot of different resources that could teach my son about money gradually as he gets older. I have four basic criteria that I’m looking for: It has to be visual. At first, I want my child to

I’ve had several discussions with readers on the costs of having a child. We’ve all heard quotes of thousands of dollars in hospital costs for the delivery and numbers like a quarter of a million dollars from conception to graduation. However, the big question that many parents-to-be have is how expensive is it on a

Most of us have faced this dicey financial situation at some point. A relative or a close friend comes to us with a tale of woe about some great financial disaster that has befallen them, then they ask you for a loan to help them get through their disaster. Your heart wants to help them,

A college friend of mine lived in a family where Christmas was celebrated without the commercialism. The family was very involved in making beautiful decorations and a wonderful Christmas atmosphere, but there was little or no money spent on anything – not on gifts or decorations. Amazingly, it sounded like a beautiful Christmas. How did

I recently was chatting with a fellow “new” parent about ways that we could teach our children about money. She related to me an interesting tale that I thought I’d share with all of you. On the day her husband was born, his father put $600 into a mutual fund (the exact investment was unimportant,

Early this morning, I was thinking about Julia, the first girl that I ever had any interest in whatsoever. I have a lot of faded memories of sitting in the park with her on the swings, talking about everything and nothing, and of hiking through the woods. I only got to know Julia for a

So many of us are crunched by the cost of a Christmas shopping list that’s far too long and full of all sorts of demands. This year, I’m saving on that outpouring of cash by making several gifts for my family. I’m not much on the “craft” side of things, so instead I’m using what

Recently, the subject of cash gifts came up between my wife and I. Her grandparents both give us moderately sized cash gifts each year (between $50 and $1000, to give a range) as a Christmas gift. In years past, we have almost immediately spent these gifts on some sort of material item, often contributing some

As an exercise, I made a list of every single material thing I would like to have if money was no object at all. My list was pretty basic: a nice five bedroom home (because I would like to have three children and a guest bedroom), a very reliable automobile, a computer that wasn’t literally

I was recently working on a self-evaluation exercise in which I was asked to consider memories from my childhood that had to do with money. These memories would then be used as a reflection on which to see my own personal finance biases today – and thus the connection would enable me to strengthen my

Recently, I’ve had several opportunities to seriously consider how money impacts the relationships within my family, and it’s made me develop a number of “rules” with which I interact with my family on a financial basis. The first situation occurred several months ago, when one of my siblings was suddenly unable to take care of