NO. We would never expect our parents or ILs to shoulder our responsibilities. They raised their children, we need to raise ours within our means. |
yeah this doesn't make sense. granted we are in nyc but 2 kids in private is $110 which is nearly all your post tax income. Our HHI last year was $1m and I often feel like we have no biz having kids in private. |
yes this |
| Why is this a problem? I couldn’t care less if everyone knew that the kids were being funded by the grandparents. I think they would think those are some very lucky grandkids and leave it at that! |
Our parents haven't paid for sh-- for me or my DH since we turned 18. Even when I asked for help with something in my 20's, a necessity not a frivolous thing, they said no. They had a lot of help, financially and hands on, from their parents. So, it irks me greatly. But it's not going to change. And as far as I'm concerned, they better not ask me for a penny. |
This. And it is a luxury to be able to have that attitude. The first PP is so privileged that s/he doesn't even realize this. |
|
DH's parents give us:
-$40K/year as a family for us to spend as we wish -Put $15K/year in each of our three children's 529s -Gave us $350K when we got married and paid for our wedding -Created a trust for DH that will be worth between $10-13 million when they die -Allow us access to their two vacation homes (in Naples, FL and the Catskills) throughout the year -Take us out to eat at nice restaurants when they visit -Buy our children nice presents throughout the year My parents give us: -Around $2K/year in financial gifts -Assist with childcare 2-3 times each year (never alone; either with one parent when the other parent is traveling or with our nanny) and occasionally take our dogs for a few days if we are traveling -Buy our children nice presents throughout the year |
| Mine could help pay. But we are firm believers in public education. |
Right? I think it’s more that the person in question didn’t want everyone knowing because they didn’t want the arrangement to extend to others grandkids! More money for them when dad dies. Ugh. I hate people. More money more problems. |
/ For those of you with one family of means or at least one that is much more generous, have things been awkward? Are there any expectations for the family to be involved in decision making? |
| This is our situation and things are never awkward because there are no strings attached to things like private school tuition or annual gifting. It is just because they love us and know they can’t take it with them in the end. I am not sure about the last question though… do you mean do they ask us what we want? They offer, we say yes. We never ask. The only thing I was a little irked at is they set up trust funds for the grandkids but never asked us, as parents, how we wanted the trust to be structured in terms of disbursements and age… I would have liked to have been a part of that discussion. |
Also never awkward. Our families do not make any decisions for us, nor are they involved unless we ask for advice. Both families prefer this and do not cross boundaries unsolicited. |
In our case, there isn't too much awkwardness. Sometimes I feel uncomfortable with their generosity, but, they do not seem to have any expectations regarding involvement in our decision making. Their gifts do not come with strings attached and we are all very close. |
We don’t take money from our parents because the second we did, they would go into overbearing, overly involved mode. I’ve seen many friends have to put up with intrusive, overbearing grandparent behavior because that money comes with strings attached. I think a lot of the time, people who take the money are embarrassed that they have to put up with grandparent antics. We all know the type, and it’s a bit humiliating to have to put up with controlling, intrusive behavior. I know a woman who tolerates horrible comments about her weight and her kids’ appearance because of the financial dependency. It’s pretty pathetic when adults endure that kind of crap rather than paying their own way and living their own lives. |
| That is awful. In those instances, I would definitely say thank you, no thank you. I wonder though if those kinds of parents would be intrusive and overbearing even if money weren’t involved. We all know parents like those. |