DC1: 33, married, struggles with mental health, does not want children. Makes ~$30k/y working a blue color job. Lives close to us.
DC2: 30, engaged, has a good job, lives far away, comes to visit 3 times a year.

My parents have four children, aged 32, 30, 29, and 27. All of us live within 10 minutes from our parents.

32 years old: Professional golfer but he is not making any money. In fact, he spends about 100K/year on golf expenses. Fortunately, he is married to a trust fund baby, and his wife is supporting him,

30 years old: Professional musician but he is not making that much money. He is also married to a trust fund baby. His wife thinks she hit the lottery, LOL..

29 years old: She was a fashion model. She is married to a private equity dude, and he is a very nice person. He said to me that he thought he had zero shot with my sister, LOL..

27 years old. That's me. I am working for my above BIL. Life is very good for me,

All three live within an hour or so of us.All happily married with children and very good careers. They are all best friends and get together quite often independent of us. We are very lucky.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My parents have three 30-somethings (I should specify that all are mid-to-late thirties):

Oldest: Married with two kids, NW probably over $5m. Lawyer + financial services. Live large but likely have plenty saved.

Middle: Married with three kids. Both are professionals with advanced degrees. Own a home, save aggressively, and live frugally.

Youngest: Married with two kids. Both are engineers. Live similarly to the middle sibling - own a home, save aggressively, and live frugally.

Weird how you frame their happiness all around money.

Not weird. It’s a central tenant of Hinduism.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My parents have three 30-somethings (I should specify that all are mid-to-late thirties):

Oldest: Married with two kids, NW probably over $5m. Lawyer + financial services. Live large but likely have plenty saved.

Middle: Married with three kids. Both are professionals with advanced degrees. Own a home, save aggressively, and live frugally.

Youngest: Married with two kids. Both are engineers. Live similarly to the middle sibling - own a home, save aggressively, and live frugally.

Weird how you frame their happiness all around money.

I didn't frame their happiness around anything - I don't see the word "happy" in my post. Since you raised the issue, I think we are all happy. The oldest sibling has more help than the other two, and because we all have young kids, I think the oldest is probably happier because of the help they can afford.

Anonymous wrote:My parents have three 30-somethings (I should specify that all are mid-to-late thirties):

Oldest: Married with two kids, NW probably over $5m. Lawyer + financial services. Live large but likely have plenty saved.

Middle: Married with three kids. Both are professionals with advanced degrees. Own a home, save aggressively, and live frugally.

Youngest: Married with two kids. Both are engineers. Live similarly to the middle sibling - own a home, save aggressively, and live frugally.

Weird how you frame their happiness all around money.

My parents have three 30-somethings (I should specify that all are mid-to-late thirties):

Oldest: Married with two kids, NW probably over $5m. Lawyer + financial services. Live large but likely have plenty saved.

Middle: Married with three kids. Both are professionals with advanced degrees. Own a home, save aggressively, and live frugally.

Youngest: Married with two kids. Both are engineers. Live similarly to the middle sibling - own a home, save aggressively, and live frugally.

Anonymous wrote:Where are they in life, physically, mentally, geographically , relationship wise, professionally and financially?

I have three kids in their 30s, all college graduates, all with varying degrees of anxiety and depression (genetic curse).

Oldest is close to 40. She's single, lives 10 minutes away, owns a small townhome, does administrative work for a realty company, and struggles financially.

Next one is 33. He's single, lives in the midwest, rents an apartment, works as a computer scientist, and makes bank. He doesn't date (isn't interested) but has friends. He loves to travel.

Next one is 31. She's married, lives 5 minutes away, rents a townhome, works for the fed government, and makes decent money but not enough for her & her DH to buy a house or have kids.

Then I have one not yet 30...but you didn't ask.

I have 2 kids in their early thirties. Both married and each live in different major cities a few hours from us. One owns a home and the other rents. One has a successful business and the other is still getting their career started but is on the right track. Not sure about the financial specifics. I think the takeaway is that there is a range of what is “normal” at this age and this is an age where those differences become more obvious.

Actually most 30 something’s in the family are struggling financially, living far from parents, most are single, married ones have small kids and are broke, working hard and are stressed out. But on social media it all looks great.

I'll answer from my parents perspective as 3 sibs and I are all in or close to our 30s:

- DC1 (35) - lives ~3 hr. flight away, married, both she and DH have good jobs as engineers; no kids yet but say they plan on it; travel a lot

- DC2 (34) - lives ~5 hr. drive away, married with two young kids; both she and DH have good jobs in consulting/finance

- DC3 (32) - lives ~20 minutes away; lives with long-term GF of 10+ years - unclear if they will get married but don't want to pry as it's no one's business; still close and see them a few times a month; both have good jobs in engineering

- DC4 (29) - lives ~1.5 hr drive away with husband; both have 'ok' jobs / did not go to college; no kids yet but say they want one; are trying to save for a house. Probably make ~$100K together but live in low cost area.

Anonymous wrote:I'm in my 30s (36F), living in NOVA about a 12 hour drive from my parents. I'm married with two kids and mentally have some minor anxiety problems that I've had my whole life.

My brother (age 34) is also married with two kids and lives 10 hours from me and 12 hours from my parents (we all live in a triangle from each other, unfortunately).

My brother in law (age 33) is single and un-seriously dating (as in, hooking up, not bringing anyone home). He has done some very adventurous world travel (backpacking through Asia and South America) and when he's not traveling, he lives in NYC. He supports himself through a series of artistic gigs (yoga, DJing, leading mindfulness retreats).

Sounds like he gets a lot of tail.

I'm in my 30s (36F), living in NOVA about a 12 hour drive from my parents. I'm married with two kids and mentally have some minor anxiety problems that I've had my whole life.

My brother (age 34) is also married with two kids and lives 10 hours from me and 12 hours from my parents (we all live in a triangle from each other, unfortunately).

My brother in law (age 33) is single and un-seriously dating (as in, hooking up, not bringing anyone home). He has done some very adventurous world travel (backpacking through Asia and South America) and when he's not traveling, he lives in NYC. He supports himself through a series of artistic gigs (yoga, DJing, leading mindfulness retreats).

👀

Where are they in life, physically, mentally, geographically , relationship wise, professionally and financially?