Poll Results: Do You Help Your Parents?

This is what you said. (Plus, two new subscriber-suggested polls.)

Pablo Andreu

Oct 6, 2022

Last month, I sent out a poll asking if you help your parents financially. These are the results:

33% said yes
41% said no
26% said sometimes

When asked how you help your parents, you said:

“I send them money monthly.” (8%)
“I’ve helped them make big purchases.” (20%)
“I help when they need extra money.” (24%)
“I help in several of these ways.” (20%)
“I help in ways not listed above.” (28%)

I also asked if you’re planning on your parents’ retirement:

31% said yes
28% said no
41% said “I’m thinking about it”

Here’s how I would answer those questions:

Yes, I help my parents financially.
I send them money monthly.
I’m thinking about my parents’ retirement.

A few things to note about the polls:

statistically speaking

These polls are not what pollsters would call “statistically significant.” About 30 of you responded. I don’t know the exact number, since I can’t tell how much overlap there was from question to question. It could be 30. It could be 40. Either way, it’s not enough to draw definitive conclusions.

one-size-fits-some

I recognize not everyone falls neatly into the responses I provided. I, for one, do not:

I said I help my parents financially, but I only help my dad. I send him some money, although I send it every other month, not every month. I don’t help my mom because she is a business owner who is financially independent.

I also said I’m thinking about my parents’ retirement. That’s true in the loosest interpretation of thinking. I’m in the “Wouldn’t that be nice?” phase of planning.

different situations

I also want to acknowledge that these questions don’t apply to everyone. I know at least a handful of my subscribers are still in school, for example. Some people are estranged from their parents. Some are going through their own struggles. Some parents are no longer around. Everyone has a different situation.

creating generational wealth

The purpose of the poll was to get a sense of how many of you have the additional responsibility of ensuring the financial stability of your parents. I’m interested because that responsibility has a direct impact on one’s capacity to create generational wealth.

Think someone might be interested in these polls? Share this post with them by clicking on the button below:

Subscriber-Suggested Polls

When I published these polls last month, one of you sent me a message pointing out the amount of money that children of immigrants give their parents could paint a clearer picture of the impact on generational wealth. She’s right. She suggested polls to that effect, so here they are:

401 Que?