Last Hope in a Weak Economy? Mom and Dad

[Omaha Steve]

http://money.excite.com/jsp/nw/nwdt_rt_top.jsp?news_id=ap-d8vicr900&

MILWAUKEE (AP) — After being laid off from her job as an events planner at an upscale resort, Jo Ann Bauer struggled financially. She worked at several lower-paying jobs, relocated to a new city and even declared bankruptcy.

Then in December, she finally accepted her parents' invitation to move into their home — at age 52. "I'm back living in the bedroom that I grew up in," she said.

Taking shelter with parents isn't uncommon for young people in their 20s, especially when the job market is poor. But now the slumping economy and the credit crunch are forcing some children to do so later in life — even in middle age.

Financial planners report receiving many calls from parents seeking advice about taking in their grown children following divorces and layoffs.

Kim Foss Erickson, a financial planner in Roseville, Calif., north of Sacramento, said she has never seen older children, even those in their 50s, depending so much on their parents as in the last six months.

"This is not like, 'OK, my son just graduated from college and needs to move back in' type of thing," she said. "These are 40- and 50-year-old children of my clients that they're helping out."

Parents "jeopardize their financial freedom by continuing to subsidize their children," said Karin Maloney Stifler, a financial planner in Hudson, Ohio, and a board member of the Financial Planning Association. "We have a hard time saying no as a culture to our children, and they keep asking for more."

FULL story at link.

[Clear Blue Sky]

1. Yikes! What if Mom and Dad are scraping by on social security?

[Mika]

4. Or dead because an insurance co. denied treatment?

Great system we've got here.

:puke:

[msongs]

2. families/friends working together, pooling resources is normal in most of the world

US society is get out on your own and do it yourself. well looks like that is gonna be changing soon.

and parents should not "subsidize", it should be equal sharing and contributing for the better of all.

oMG that sounds like...gasp...socialism!

Msongs

[pitohui]

5. if by normal you mean "crabs in a bucket"

there is no such thing as equal sharing in a family, where a parent doesn't draw the line, the most dysfunctional and sociopathic member of the family ends up with all the marbles

seen it a million times

[madrchsod]

12. not many folks left that went through the 20`s and 30`s..

but there are a lot of people my age that remember what our parents told us about those times. i guess somethings never change...

[pitohui]

3. em, how are mom and dad supposed to have any money? don't they live in the same economy?

this'll work for those with rich folks but those with rich folks fall back on their parents and hit them up for $$$ all the time anyway, so how is this news exactly?

if i'm 50 and my dad is 80 and living on social security/medicare, it's safe to say that the odds are much higher of him ending up in MY basement in an inflationary economy than the reverse (not that i have a basement or figure my dad to end up in it if i did)

[Omaha Steve]

6. Mom & Dad might not have to make a house payment

Hope they have a secure retirement a liberal fought for 50 years ago too.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

7. My dad moved in with Grandma a few years ago, to help with the house...

But since he was down-sized several months ago, he said he would have had to anyway. :(

edit: this article really pisses me off

"Parents are jeopardizing their financial freedom"

It's ONLY been during the 19th century that it's been considered a mark of shame to have to help your family out during tough times.
Comments like that re-enforce the illusion that humans survived for a million years with out family and community support systems. :(

[annabanana]

8. "We have a hard time saying no as a culture to our children"

I don't care if you lost your house.. you can't stay in the garage, you're 50 for Gods sake... Why should I feed an utter failure?. . . .

May Karin Maloney Stifler never suffer a budget busting auto accident. . . .

[depakid]

11. Ms, Stifler from Ohio

is just the sort of person who needs a does of reality.

[roamer65]

9. It used to be this way in America.

Looks like we're returning to those days.

[madrchsod]

10. my family of five moved in with my folks

for over a year during those wonderful 1980`s. if our daughter was`t living with us today we`d be out on the street. i guess i`m going to go back to school and learn how to mig weld..they are begging for good mig and tig welders around here. i guess 61 is`t that old to learn mig welding

[Lars39]

13. Took me a while to realize this,

but when my parents lived up north, virtually every relative from TN stayed with them to work at the watch factory,etc., at one point...
even my grandfathers. There weren't any jobs at all in the area they lived.

[pscot]

14. It works both ways

Kids depend on their folks long after they turn 21. Family is about friendship and loyalty, help when you're down, good cheer when things are going well, lots and lots of free advice and money if you have it. If you do it right, they'll be there for you when you need them later in life. Family really is the basis for society and one of lifes great satisfactions.

[stranger81]

15. I've been supporting my dad since my mother died in 2003 . . . .

If I'm not working, neither one of us are eating.