It is infuriating when old people give you outdated financial advice that makes it sound like your financial problems are all your fault. They tell you that you are wasting money by paying rent instead of a mortgage, but they do not have a plan for how you can qualify for a mortgage and get enough money for a down payment. They tell you that you are wasting money by buying your breakfast on the way to work, as if food from supermarkets were affordable, either.

It is endearing, however, when children who have never interacted with a pay stub or a bank account make pronouncements about finances. They say things like, “When I grow up, I want to be rich in family. I don’t care whether I am rich in money.” Family can give you a sense of stability that large amounts of money cannot, but every family member is only one person, and when family members rely on each other because they have nothing and no one else, it leads to a cycle of burnout and family conflict. If your family has been all hands on deck for as long as you can remember, and everyone is burnt out but no one is breaking even, then for the sake of the people you love the most, contact an Oakland lawsuits, collections, and creditor harassment lawyer.

The Poor Man’s Trust Fund Baby

By now, Baby Boomers have realized that their moment of economic opportunity was ephemeral. The generation that could afford homeownership, the ones who easily found jobs with pensions or employer-provided retirement savings, now know that they have to make those perks last for multiple generations. An increasing number of people over 50, especially women, have taken early withdrawals from their retirement accounts to help their children weather one or another financial crisis. An increasing number of young adults live with their parents in the family home, no matter how much the parents long for peace and quiet.

According to a recent article in The Atlantic, parents of young children are increasingly relying on their own parents as a source of childcare. Priced out of daycares, young children spend their parents’ workdays with their grandparents, and grandparents meet their grandchildren at the school bus stop and take care of them until the middle generation finishes work. From the outside, it looks like the creation of cherished family memories; the grandchildren will remember these times with their grandparents and will become proficient in their heritage languages. When you are in it, though, it is obvious that what the grandparents are doing is unpaid labor.

If you cannot afford daycare, be honest with yourself about how much money or work your parents can reasonably contribute. Address your own debt problems, with or without filing for bankruptcy; money is replaceable, but family is not.

Contact the Law Office of Melanie Tavare About Saving Your Family From Your Debt

A debt relief lawyer can help you if you can no longer afford to rely on your parents for money.  Contact the Law Office of Melanie Tavare in Oakland, California, or call (510)255-4646 for a case evaluation.