What do you do when your kids pursue their passions and are now broke as adults?

[Anonymous]

We don’t have money ourselves. They have cool jobs but always worry about money and have crappy unstable lives (in their own words) which make them depressed and always stressed out. We supported them in this path but now feel like maybe we should have steered them towards having a traditional career. They tried that out and didn’t like it.

[Anonymous]

One of my children is autistic and can only be functional in a path he's passionate about. It is our hope that he can make a career out of it. We do have funds to help him out in case it doesn't go as planned.

If there is no money, then your kids have to power through. What are they doing?

[Anonymous]

How old are you and them?

[Anonymous]

They can always change careers. This is their problem to handle.

[Anonymous]

I think they need to figure it out for themselves. We are in the process of dealing with that right now. Eldest had a college major that would enable them to pursue a lot of different paths, many of which would lead to financial stability/job with benefits. These have been dismissed as "boring" and DC only wants to do one of the many possible job options available, which only pays minimum wage. All I do is shrug shoulders and say "Go back to school or figure out another option within your field that pays more. You have choices. We are not here to subsidize your "passion" after we paid for the college education. What you do with that education is up to you." Subsidizing poor career choices is not a precedent we want to set for the younger siblings. Our kids will graduate college debt free, which in this day and age is a big gift. We have worked hard to give them that, and we would like to retire someday.

[Anonymous]

Tell them gently, "I think you might have to go back to school or get some other training to find a better paying job."

I went back to school for a couple of years to get a better paying job. My parents had no money to help me out.

I eventually started making six figures by 30, and this was 25 years ago.

[Anonymous]

After five years of working a very low paying job she loved, Niece took a six month coding course and now codes for AmEx.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They can always change careers. This is their problem to handle.

+1. I am one of those adults. Several of my friends changed careers in our early 30s.

The other option is just to manage their resources carefully and be grateful for what they have. My spouse and I are still in our original careers, but I've left exciting traveling work for a desk job so I can at least hit the low six figures and be around with my kids, whereas he makes less but does a lot of DIY and childcare due to his flexibility. We have a crappy small house and our kids are widely spaced due to day care costs, but we do have it all (family, stability, retirement savings, interesting jobs that don't rule our lives), it's just not a UMC standard of "all."

[Anonymous]

Nothing.

They are adults

[Anonymous]

You're talking in extremes, Op

[Anonymous]

They can peruse the goodies available to low income people.
No, I am not an RWNJ.
I am someone who works part time, lives in a nice subsidized apartment, gets money for groceries, travels (often using points) and sometimes eats out. My kid will get a low cost college education, god willing.

[Anonymous]

They can peruse the goodies available to low income people.
No, I am not an RWNJ.
I am someone who works part time, lives in a nice subsidized apartment, gets money for groceries, travels (often using points) and sometimes eats out. My kid will get a low cost college education, god willing.

Wow. People like you are why some people become RWNJ. You do realize that your subsidized apartment and money for groceries are being funded by people who don't feel entitled to work part time and live like a parasite off the work of others, don't you?

[Anonymous]

You support your kids. If they are unhappy and complain to you about it, you can ask them if they want you to listen, or want suggestions (and if they want suggestions, you can offer changing careers). Otherwise you MYOB

[Anonymous]

How much do they make? They need to live way below what thy bring in and invest the money they save. I did that for a long time and now I don't worry about money or even have to work a lot. I made $40k on my best year. Usually I brought in$30k. I invested, not saved, about $5-8k a year and it grew near million.
I find it interesting that you also don't have money. It takes so little to grow it into big pile.

[Anonymous]

This was my sister. After my dad passed away and was no longer available to subsidize her life, she pivoted from her low-paying journalism job to marketing and now makes decent money.