251. The Sandwich Generation: Balancing Kids, Parents and Money

So essentially, what we're talking to everybody about today is talking about those people in, I guess, that life cycle where you've got younger children that you're responsible for looking after, but you also have responsibilities for your parents that you're also looking after as well, and you're kind of like the meat in the sandwich.

Yeah.

And you're kind of getting, I guess, financially squeezed by both sides.

Yeah.

Both the kids and the parents.

Yeah, exactly right.

Um, and I guess there's, yeah, there- there's some difficulty in it.

I mean, trying to navigate the complexity of, you know, young kids, school, private school fees.

Um, and, and in addition to that, there's also aging parents.

There's aged care costs.

There's all of the other stuff that happens in amongst, um, in amongst all of that.

So Bills, um, yeah, it's a difficult one.

Yeah.

Look, it's, it's, it's challenging because, I mean, obviously there's the added complexity of the, the mental pressure that comes with being responsible, especially for, I guess, parents that are aging that need additional support.

I mean, when you, when you obviously have kids, you make that decision that you're responsible for them until they're independent, and away you go.

But the added burden and the pressure of needing to care for elderly parents is ...

The mental burden is absolutely huge.

That's not what we're gonna talk about.

It's actually the financial pressure.

So not only do you have the, the cost that children cost, and they rise, school fees, they get more expensive as, as they get older.

Uh, I definitely know it with a almost 16 and almost 13-year-old.

Um, but then you've got the additional financial pressure of parents as well too, and it's a really precarious point in that time.

'Cause when you look at, I guess, the, the average snapshot of somebody in that demographic, they're probably right in the thick of things in terms of where they're at from not only a career perspective in terms of, I guess, what they're doing from a career point of view, but they're probably at or near the peak of their career, which means they're putting a lot of time, effort, energy into their career, so they're under pressure with work.

Financially, they're probably earning a, a, a decent amount of money in terms of their peak earning capacity, but what comes with that as well too is most likely the debt that they're servicing.

So there's big mortgages and, you know, at that point in time, you may not necessarily be debt-free.

So essentially, what we're talking to everybody about today is talking about those people in, I guess, that life cycle where you've got younger children that you're responsible for looking after, but you also have responsibilities for your parents that you're also looking after as well, and you're kind of like the meat in the sandwich.

Yeah.

And you're kind of getting, I guess, financially squeezed by both sides.

Yeah.

Both the kids and the parents.

Yeah, exactly right.

Um, and I guess there's, yeah, there- there's some difficulty in it.

I mean, trying to navigate the complexity of, you know, young kids, school, private school fees.

Um, and, and in addition to that, there's also aging parents.

There's aged care costs.

There's all of the other stuff that happens in amongst, um, in amongst all of that.

So Bills, um, yeah, it's a difficult one.

Yeah.

Look, it's, it's, it's challenging because, I mean, obviously there's the added complexity of the, the mental pressure that comes with being responsible, especially for, I guess, parents that are aging that need additional support.

I mean, when you, when you obviously have kids, you make that decision that you're responsible for them until they're independent, and away you go.

But the added burden and the pressure of needing to care for elderly parents is ...

The mental burden is absolutely huge.

That's not what we're gonna talk about.

It's actually the financial pressure.

So not only do you have the, the cost that children cost, and they rise, school fees, they get more expensive as, as they get older.

Uh, I definitely know it with a almost 16 and almost 13-year-old.

Um, but then you've got the additional financial pressure of parents as well too, and it's a really precarious point in that time.

'Cause when you look at, I guess, the, the average snapshot of somebody in that demographic, they're probably right in the thick of things in terms of where they're at from not only a career perspective in terms of, I guess, what they're doing from a career point of view, but they're probably at or near the peak of their career, which means they're putting a lot of time, effort, energy into their career, so they're under pressure with work.

Financially, they're probably earning a, a, a decent amount of money in terms of their peak earning capacity, but what comes with that as well too is most likely the debt that they're servicing.

So there's big mortgages and, you know, at that point in time, you may not necessarily be debt-free.