PenPenWrites

parenting blog, memoir notes, family punchlines & more

Category: loans to adult children

Emerging Adults: Putting the burden of student loans in perspective

04/25/2012

A few days ago I posted a blog on the heavy burden our college students carry in loans. It's hard for me to get my mind around $1 trillion–the amount of outstanding student-loan debt. I found these charts on NPR's Planet Money. They give some perspective on the bubble-like growth of debt college grads are…
Emerging Adults: Their burdens are bigger than ours were at their age

04/18/2012

A little–perhaps a lot–of sympathy may be in order here. Our kids–the young adults coming out of college and graduate school–are drowning in debt and a lot of other woes that ripple out from that. "It's a very different world than 20 yrs ago" says Nancy Molitor, a clinical psychologist who practices in the Chicago…
Money Matters: The stats on how we help our kids buy a house

04/12/2012

Yes. It's yet another survey on how generous our generation is to our children. This one comes from Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate and keys in on the ways in which we help our children buy a home. According to its December survey, nearly one in five self-identified baby boomer couples had assisted at…
Money Matters: Is a loan a gift when we help grownkids buy a house?

01/22/2012

Whenever we talk with friends about grown kids and money, one connection is a constant. Almost all of us have helped or plan to help our children buy a house. We're the generation that was lucky enough to buy our homes before the infamous bubble and whose overall estates have benefited from the pre-2008 relentless…
Money Matters: A calculus underlies loans to adult children

01/11/2011

The question was as abrupt as it was surprising: "Do you help your kids out?" It came from a friend we've discussed money matters with before. Our answer was as brief as it was open-ended: "We do, but it depends." The friend who asked the question, says he does not. "I believe in fostering independence.…
Re-nesting: When the grown kid moves home for the long haul

01/05/2011

when the grown kids move back home, it’s no easier for them than it is for you. some tips on easing the pain.
Money Matters: Who pays for what when the kids move back home

06/26/2010

When grown children lose their jobs, parents face critical decisions about how much help to provide.
Share the Wealth: To help our children now or to leave a legacy later?

06/21/2010

If we have “a little bit more” than we need for retirement, why not share it with our grown children in the here and now? Not to spoil them but to step in when there’s a crisis or a need.
Money Matters: The long arm of parents who help their kids.

05/30/2010

"We are spending so much money on our kids," a friend tells me. "They need to be rescued every once in a while." The kids in question are hers from her first marriage and his from his first marriage. One of her sons went through a painful and devastating divorce, including court battles over child…
Money Matters: Helping kids with big purchases

04/12/2010

Some of us are willing to help our kids out financially, while others–even if we can afford it–don’t feel we should. It may depend on what our life experiences were.

recent posts

recent posts

Emerging Adults: Putting the burden of student loans in perspective

Emerging Adults: Their burdens are bigger than ours were at their age

Money Matters: The stats on how we help our kids buy a house

Money Matters: Is a loan a gift when we help grownkids buy a house?

Money Matters: A calculus underlies loans to adult children

Re-nesting: When the grown kid moves home for the long haul

Money Matters: Who pays for what when the kids move back home

Money Matters: The long arm of parents who help their kids.

Money Matters: Helping kids with big purchases