Always best to be prepared – almost 75% of parents in Ireland are thinking of kids’ financial future now
But what about the people who can’t prepare, don’t prepare or won’t prepare? What will they do if live throws them a curveball?
DESPITE some of the misery you’ll read in many headlines, my own theory is that there has never been a better time to be alive than right now.
In history there weren’t half of the inventions, cures, engineering feats, and life in times past was harder and much shorter.
Of course, that doesn’t mean people don’t die and that every known hardship can’t still occur anywhere at any time, so thinking about the future is still required.
It was with this in mind that I was interested to find that parents today still worry about similar things their own parents worried about.
Irish Life had some research done and it showed that two thirds of parents fear for their children’s financial future.
We have covered the many reasons for this before — longer time spent in education leading to less earning time, more precarious working conditions with things such as zero hour contracts and lower benefits within the workplace being the norm.
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Then you have high property prices and high rents, both of which act like a ‘tax’ on your future wealth no matter how you try to put a roof over your head.
The upside is parents seem to be doing something about this situation. Almost three quarters of them are doing something now to assist their children in the future. That we can even comprehend that is a feat of modern civilisation.
In past generations you did a good job if your kids simply lived past age five.
Infant mortality in Ireland was 20 per cent at the start of the 20th century, there was no financial planning because most people were poor and there was very little upward mobility.
The ‘how’ is also interesting — the bulk of parents are doing something by setting up savings accounts for their children, others are putting money aside for a deposit for a house for them or to pay for a wedding.
What many also do (almost 70 per cent) is show their kids shopping bills. Personally I think this is a great idea as it ties together the cost and value aspects of money.
Others get them to budget their pocket money.
If you fancy an interesting test to see how your kids might do in the future, look up the Stanford Marshmallow Test. It is actually about marshmallows and is meant to show if a child can understand forgoing instant gratification for some delayed gratification.
Life isn’t all about money, though, is it?
Maybe it is to some of us, but the Irish Life survey found a child’s happiness is paramount (72 per cent) with financial security being a distant second (59 per cent).
And yes, we are an island of romantics at heart because no question asked ranked material possessions or security above love or happiness.
What does this all tell you? To me it says we are all quite normal (a good thing), that we do think about the future and in some cases try to prepare for it.
It also raises another question though. What about the people who can’t prepare, don’t prepare or won’t prepare? What will they do if live throws them a curveball?
Great on the phone, great in person - special kudos to Wicklow dirt bike company
I TRY to write positive things about businesses that I have had dealings with because I think people write about good recipes, clothes, and all manner of things in the paper but rarely about companies they have dealt with and why they are good.
This week’s special kudos goes to Muckandfun.com, a company in Wicklow who specialise in dirt bikes.
My son had one that broke and I was on the hunt for a replacement.
They were great on the phone when I asked questions, great in person when I got there and they even sold me some safety gear at cost so all riders would take as little risk as possible — totally commendable.
I was well impressed — they were totally worth the drive to Rathnew to do business with.
Three months in - I've found my sticking point of 84.8kg
THIS week has been a tough one in the battle of the bulge. I think I found my sticking point, it’s 84.8kg.
I can’t seem to get under that weight and when I do get close progress gets killed by pizza and chocolate.
I think my body is programmed not to go below that. Of course, that’s me living in denial, I could do better if I tried harder, but it’s tough of late, three months in and the ambition and drive can flag a bit. So what do you do?
It depends on the person. What I plan to do is go for long walks at lunch which will burn fat and don’t make you insane with hunger. Drink water before and after. I’ll let you know next week if it worked!