It Strikes Me Funny: I'm in debt but I think it’s manageable Pt 1

I started thinking more seriously about my debt load recently after learning that six-in-ten Canadian baby boomers are providing financial support to their adult children to the tune of $3,675 per year. (Canadian Investors Group poll)


["I can only afford popsicles for Ollie": photo PAH]

Information like that sends a chill down my spine, almost as cold as the chill I’d feel if my pensions and wee RRSP dried up and blew away.

After all, I am Canadian.

I am a baby boomer.

I have two adult children.

You know how I feel about money.

And six-in-ten chance is... 6 out of 10!

That means there’s better than half a chance I could be emptying my wallet every year. I don’t like those odds and I don’t have that kind of money to spare.

Hey, I can afford popsicles for my grandson and breakfast for my two boys every now and again, but if the bill ever comes to $3,675 they’d better be prepared to pick me up off the floor.

Part of the problem may be that many adult children cannot find a job and must live at home. Or they have a low-paying job and regularly feel they need help with monthly bills.

Or they have a decent job but have expenses and debts beyond their means.

Or... we can just agree it’s a complicated world out there and 60 per cent of boomers are taking a hit along with their kids.

The problem with me is, I have a significant debt load right now (Did I tell you anything about a year and a half’s worth of renovations?)...


["Can you drop that, Ed? Twenty windows have arrived.": photo GAH]

...and though I feel it’s manageable, it’s only manageable as long as my children hang onto their jobs.

Do you feel the chill?

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Adult kids aren’t the only ones feeling the pinch.

Click here to read part 2.

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