You never know where some gem or germ of wisdom will come from. Here's a little sensible advice from a law firm's blog. Of course, the writer is selling estate planning, but still, the comments make sense even if you're not drawing up an official plan. First, there's the question of whether you should share…

The 401k is melting; retirement seems further away than ever. And then there are the needs of our not-quite-independent adult children. They've got their college debts, the difficulty in finding a job in this economy. They may be threatening to move back home–it's an affordability measure. And, of course, all those hurts hurt us. We…

Here’s an interesting discussion about the pain a father feels about his daughter’s boyfriend. She’s moved back home and is involved with a man the father does not like. He sees the relationship as dysfunctional and possibly abusive.How hands-off should he be? What to do when your daughter is involved in a bad relationship that…

A few weeks ago I blogged about having “The Chat” with your grown children–the chat being about where your assets are and how they can track them down when you’re no longer here to tell them. When my mother had The Chat with me, it always gave me the creeps. And now I  am my…

Vacationing with adult children is a whole new world–from getting to know them (and their habits) all over again to issues over who's paying for what and who's making the decisions. I'll be blogging about that all summer long, but meanwhile there's this story by a dad who's a professional traveler–he was escorting a large…

A college professor takes a crack at pinpointing when an adolescent becomes an adult. It's not as easy as he thinks.

Just when you’ve reached a point in your own career where you’re at peace–blind ambition turns into bound ambition–you’ve got your grown children’s careers to worry about. Are they advancing, are they thriving at their work? Hey, even more basic than that, are they working? My friend G’s son–he’s married and the father of twin…

Looking for some basic advice on weaning your grown kids from financial dependence on you? Two sources of friendly suggestions came across my screen recently. One is from Expert Business Source. The three main points: 1. Learn to talk to you kids about money unemotionally. 2. Create a schedule for them to become financially independent.…

Parents in Great Britain face the same fiscal pressures as we do here–their grown children could use a bit of a financial boost. Here are two recent stories on the issue. This one looks at KIPPERS, Kids in Parents’ Pockets Eroding Retirement Savings. It’s from an Irish newspaper and one point it makes is this:…