A study finds kids are willing to step up
Do you wonder if your kids will have your back when you’re older? Apparently the answer is a surprising yes.
That’s the good news in a conversation many people are having these days — around aging parents — that comes courtesy of the third biennial “Fidelity Investments Family & Finance Study.” Less heartening is that nearly 4 in 10 families seem to be suffering from what can only be described as — hats off to “Cool Hand Luke” for this — a failure to communicate.
Let’s start by paying homage to at least certain offspring and giving them their due credit:
- While 93 percent of parents felt it would “unacceptable” to become financially dependent on their kids, 70 percent of the adult children had no qualms about opening their wallets.
- Children were much more likely to expect that they, or a sibling, would care for an ill parent than their moms and dads were (47 percent vs. 11 percent).
