A few months back, I started following The Woke Salaryman because of an article released by them, “ Save 100K by 30”. It was featured on Seedly as a contribution from The Woke Salaryman.
It was a nice approach because besides the words, there were cute drawings and cartoons that accompanied it and made it so much easier to read.
Even though, to save 100K by 30 is a common topic among financial bloggers, I found their article really easy to follow through as then animations really did simplify things.
It also made financial matters less intimidating as not much words are shown and the animations provided a summary of what they want to put across.
I started following their Instagram just recently and boy, do they like to ask thought provoking questions.
I just saw one yesterday about whether kids are their parent’s retirement plan. Of course, questions like these wouldn’t usually be asked so directly especially in Asia.
But I like that they brought up this topic as some people do think that their kids will be their retirement plan and that they will support and take care of them fully when they turn old.
I do feel that to a certain degree, you should be taking care of your parents when they have turned old but definitely not as a retirement plan as there are many factors to consider.
For example, your children could get married and have more financial burden than they expected due to new commitments that they have to support.
For me, since my mum resigned/retired in April, she haven’t told her parents aka as my grandparents and since she haven’t told them, she still give monthly expenses to them.
With the allowance that I give her, it’s definitely not enough to cover for the allowances that she give her parents. So I actually suggested to her to discuss with her siblings to see if she is able to reduce but because her sister recently resigned as well hence I think it was not gonna be good.
In her case and of course, mine (me supporting my mum) is a little different as my mum's parents do not have any savings with them.
As my mum has 4 other siblings, when they were young, my grandparents sold drinks and used the money for basic needs and to send them to school so they do not have much savings and are very reliant on their children financially.
My mum, on the other hand has some savings and also her CPF as she was able to save a little, she has some savings that she can fall back on and she is not completely reliant on me to support her.
I do feel that ultimately, you cannot fully be relying on your kids as a retirement plan, you should be also at the same time be planning for your retirement while raising your kids if it is possible.
References:
The Woke Salaryman - Sorry, your kids are not your retirement plan
The most important things I had to do to save $100,000* before I turned 30 in Singapore
I largely agree with Woke Salaryman on this. It is my personal view that part of responsible parenting must include financial planning for your own retirement and old age needs.
ReplyDeleteKids do not choose to be born. You and your husband/wife decided on that unilaterally, in one (or multiple) nights of passion. lol.
Of course if your child becomes financially successful, and wants to show his/her appreciation by providing some form of financial allowance, good on you. But if you have to rely on such allowance to survive, thereby imposing an inevitable burden on your kids, then I am sorry to say you have not been a responsible parent.
http://m.ncregister.com/blog/vincentweaver/rethinking-i-dont-want-to-be-a-burden-to-my-children
ReplyDeleteYou should watch this advertising video from NTUC on the best gift you can give your children : https://youtu.be/-QqtQK7i0yA
ReplyDeleteI think it does get more and more difficult for young adults nowadays to save for their own retirement if they have to take care of their parents and their own children. This is because families are getting smaller and that means fewer siblings to share the burden of taking care of their retired parents. Also, the employment market is getting more globalised and thus more competitive. Its tough but doable. Just have to be disciplined savers, work longer years, and live within your means.