YOUR retirement is top priority!
Most parents I know support their children through college. Fair enough.
Then they pay for the ‘higher education’ – this means an MBA. Not fair, but very unIndian to say ‘go get a loan’. So it is all right.
Then they support them in the ‘early’ part of their lives with a car, a down payment of a house, and of course MARRIAGE. Fair enough? Not so sure.
Funnily no parent is breaking a bank to incur these expenses, so they do not feel that they are saving/ investing less for their own retirement. Most parents are under an illusion..’my father had only 5 lakhs..I have 88 lakhs’ what more can I want. If they do sit down and work out how much they need..they will be rattled.
Read on…this is what the American newspaper…has to say
http://www.investmentnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120624/REG/306249991#
Saurabh Aggarwal
Sir , not able to access the link , please take action
Rajeev
Subra,
The link requires tons of data to be filled and registeration on the site. I opted out of this.
The point you bring out is very true and important. Every person ahs to be educated about this. i did this math ten years ago and was zapped with the outcome. It has taken me all this time to get organised. It included an overseas assignment which helped put together the required capital.
Our standard of living keeps on rising and with it comes the burden of earning enough even after you retire. It is not fair to count your children to help you out. Their life is going to be even more difficult.
India follows what happens abroad with a time gap of a few years. If we want to know what our future generations will do, then look towardss west. No one finances childrens education etc. Children do not support parents. This in an affluent society.
Regards
LuckyOye
Completely agree on the point. This also relates to our so called ‘Demographic Dividend’. We have another 10 maybe 15 years till it runs out.
Its also interesting to check out Mr. Vaidyanathan’s (of IIM, don’t know whether Ahd or Blr) views on the same. The destruction of the joint family system was just the start…forcing the common man to deal directly with the state/institutions is sooo much more stressful that its just not worth it. Yeah, you do away with the undesirable social norms and pressures of the yesteryears…but what comes in its place is not that great either.
thenub
Those who are deterred by the need for registration, use this to login:
http://bugmenot.com/view/investmentnews.com