My Parents Have Made Some Horrible Financial Decisions. They Just Told Me Their Retirement Plans, and Somehow, It Gets Worse.

"My brother is perpetually unemployed and his wife, my sister-in-law, is a "professional painter" of little talent and less success. They have four children of their own despite being unable to keep a roof over their own heads. But my brother has always been the "golden child," and our parents have always supported him and his family in a middle-class lifestyle, including building them a big custom house (in a cheap part of the country, but still) and buying them cars and groceries."

"The money for this has come from my grandmother. When she passed away some decades ago, she left a substantial estate (my grandfather had a very generous pension and highly successful investments). She left it equally to her three children, with a stipulation that the remaining estate ultimately then go evenly to her six grandchildren (each child had two) when her children also passed. (I don't know, and can't readily obtain, the exact language in the will, but that's what I'm told.)"

"Dear Not a Billionaire, I've long known that all of Grandma's legacy has already gone to my brother and sister-in-law. But more recently, I learned that parents are now at the point of diverting their retirement savings to them. Their assumption is that, once those funds run out, I'll pick up supporting all eight of them-my brother and his family and my parents-for the rest of their lives. The level of success I've enjoyed is nowhere near THAT level, and they know it. When I noted this, it was brushed off with, "Oh, we're sure you'll figure it out." (There is a long-standing tendency here to ignore problems and assume they'll just solve themselves.)"

A sibling describes a brother who is perpetually unemployed and a wife who is an unsuccessful "professional painter." The brother and his wife have four children despite lacking stable housing. Parents have consistently supported them with middle-class benefits, including a custom house, cars, and groceries. The funds originated from a substantial estate left by a grandmother, intended to pass to grandchildren after the children died. Parents are now diverting their retirement savings to the brother, and they assume the correspondent will later support both parents and the brother's family, creating impending financial risk.

Read at Slate Magazine