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[quote=Anonymous]We're pretty close to retirement (66 and 61), but will probably continue to work part-time for another 5 years.  We lived in the Bay Area and sold our house for about $5 million - we did really well on it  decided that it just made no sense to stay there and we could do far better elsewhere.  A few business ventures we were hoping to finance retirement fell through (we did very well for about 20 years, but the last 20 have been very difficult).  Plus, we're worried about our younger son (#2) and his wife and children.

We've decided to buy two condos in DC, one for us and one for our younger son and his family.  We have an older son (#1) and daughter-in-law who live and work in DC.  So the family will again be reunited.

#2 had a condo in San Francisco that we bought for him and have decided to keep for the family, so we can at least spend some time in California.  Plus it could be a revenue generator when we're not there.

We really wanted #2 to make something of himself but he hasn't really worked.  Didn't do very well in college.  He did very well on the LSAT though, so he could get into maybe a tier 2 law school.  But he didn't want to be a lawyer and never applied.  We tried to employ him directly in our business but then that fell through.  Before our first grandchild was born, we insisted that it was time for him to work and not being picky about it.  But that never happened.  Our daughter-in-law, who came from a lower middle class background, thinks we have way more money than we actually do.  She generally gets a sales job every now and then to amuse herself, but then gets bored and quits in a few months.  So we are afraid none of them will ever have a real job.  Now they have 2 chlldren.

However it is wrong to deprive our GRANDCHILDREN of a good life.  They should not be held responsible for their parents', well, f*ing up.

And in spite of our issues with them, nothing makes us happier than spending time with them and our grandchildren.

So there's nothing we can do.  Even with the trust fun set up for our children by the grandparents (about 40K a year for each child), #2 and daughter-in-law can't manage their finances.  I can't count how many times we've had to bail them out over the past decade.  What can we do?  We have to support them.  And 40K is not enough for a family with 2 children.  And since they're in their 30s now, with no to minimal work experience, we don't think they can get jobs now.

So we're selling our house and downsizing.   The good news is we can afford some condos in DC, a vacation home somewhere for the whole extended family (maybe in New England or upstate New York) and to keep the condo in San Francisco and the time-share in Colorado (we're avid skiers), and still have $$$ left over: this is probably about $2 million in real estate (we can also get rental income).  We're going to have to leave as much money aside as we can but we want to have some enjoyment in our golden years as well.

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