Building a nest egg

When the kids leave the nest, are they leaving the parents without a nest egg?

When the kids leave the nest, are they leaving the parents without a nest egg?  Parents financially stuck between college expenses and retirement savings may be at a loss for funds.

As a parent, its hard to put yourself first. It’s harder still prioritizing money between college and retirement. Many financial planners say that your kids can borrow for college.  Young people have all the time in the world to pay back their student loans. But, advisors caution that parents can’t borrow money for retirement.

Sometimes its not really about how much it costs.  Some parents want to pay for their kids’ college no matter what, so that the kids have an easier time.  Face it- first jobs out of college are hard to come by in this economy. Many parents help out so the price of a college education to deter the kids from getting higher education.

A recent Merrill Lynch study disclosed that 6 out of 10 boomers would delay retirement to help out a family member in financial need.

This is a great legacy for family and kids – you are paying it forward. Hopefully they will be in a position to do the same. Education is the way out of poverty – especially financial education.

The best way to be prepared for kids leaving the nest without taking the nest eggs with them, it to have several. (Not several kids – unless that’s what you want– but to have several nest eggs for the golden years!) Having enough money means having a long term financial plan.

A good financial plan is one that includes income, deferred income, taxes, deferred taxes, emergency funds and insurance. The three-legged stool is not enough to support the modern-day realities.

Help out the family – but also help them to get a financial education so that everyone stands a better chance of making it. Help the kids get an early financial education by doing the right thing with money, and get them the “Can I Have Some Money?” book series. It will help them understand how important it is to ‘pay it forward”.

If I knew then what I know now… this would be a different kind of blog!

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If you or your kids enjoy reading about self-starters and entrepreneurs, uou can get a free chapter of LEMONADE SOLD OUT here.  It’s the story of a young entrepreneur and how he made money and helped friends when his good nature turned into a business.