"I'm not a man who makes $10 and spends $11."

So, put some more money aside--I am now up to 67.2% on the exchange savings. Wish it was 100% but what can you do?

Talked to my parents again about graduate studies vs. working full time. I want to do both and it's hard to decide on one or the other. First I had decided to work full time to be able to support my parents. This is when my dad went "I'm not a man who makes $10 and spends $11." Meaning, they've put some money aside, and if I want to study for another two years, then they'll rely on their savings.

Still, hard to decide what I want to do. I've been asking a lot of people for their opinions--both adults and peers. One lady at work asked if a master's will help me get a job, or a better job than I could get now already. The answer isn't clear for the field that I'm in--I'm quite sure I could get by without one. Many people are in the field with jobs without a master's degree.

I think that I just want a master's degree or something.

My Parents' Retirement

I haven't been on this blog in awhile because I thought my computer was fried--only to find out that I had kicked the power cord out of its socket. I only realized this after I was panicking about how I was going to pay for a new computer. Oops!

Anyways, I've been meaning to get around to the story behind why I am going to support my parents through their retirement. And it goes something like this.

When my dad was young, he left school to support his own mother, who didn't have much money either. Without an education, my dad was forced into trade labour that didn't pay that much. However, he and my mom managed to start their own business. It thrived, and by the time I was born, my dad had to travel the world a lot to conduct business. He made a lot of money that way and I had the best of everything--private school and expensive clothes and nice toys.

The problem with the business was that my dad was gone for months at a time. My mom became a stay at home mom who was raising us on her own for several months out of the year. My dad was uncomfortable leaving my mom to do that all alone, and he missed developing a relationship with us kids. The nature of the business was so that he had to be gone for long periods of time, or the business would fall apart.

He was faced with a dilemma--be rich but miss out on the kids, or be financially insecure but watch his kids grow up.

My dad decided that fostering a relationship with his children was more important than any money--which I think he learned because his own dad chose business over him. But without a good education, my dad couldn't get well paying jobs. People didn't want to hire him cause of his lack of education. Our family's income drastically declined to the point where my parents were in debt.

I've always had this sort of guilt or conciousness growing up that my parents would be rich and well off if they hadn't decided that I was more important than money. Many of their most costly decisions had to do with me--like moving to certain places so I could go to the best schools they could find and afford. (Although, go figure, they couldn't afford my university education. But I was determined to pay for it myself anyway.)

The reason why I want to support my parents through their retirement is pretty obvious. They spent so much money so that I could have the best. My dad gave up his thriving business because he felt it was more important to watch me grow up and be around everyday.

It would be way too selfish of me not to give my parents money every month to support them through their retirement. I would hate for them to be 80 years old and decide they can't eat their favourite food that night because they don't have enough money. If there's anything I can do to make my parents' golden years more enjoyable, then why shouldn't I be doing it?

A Family Meeting, a Twist, Where Next?

The other day I sat down with my parents and talked about where we would like to be a year from now, financially and otherwise. I brought up the idea of graduate studies or the possibility of working full time. Of course, if I continue with school, I'll pay for it myself.

My parents have always told me ever since I was young that they would like to live with me through their retirement. So I kind of made plans for that. I assumed that we would keep the family home. I thought I would move back home after university and give my parents a monthly contribution to support them through their retirement. But I'd also get to live rent free... So you could consider it giving my parents rent, if you want to think of it that way.

Apparently, I was wrong. (?!)

My parents told me that they are thinking about selling the house (!) and moving (!) far away (!).

I had not anticipated this!

My parents told me I am welcome to move with them, but this is my home now. I don't want to move away from this place. So now, I don't know. A year from now I might not be living here. I might have to find a place to live around here. What I do know is that I still have to make monthly contributions to my parents though.

Now I'm really thinking--downpayment on a place of my own? Renting? What's next?

My parents said that if I wanted to pursue graduate studies, that they would rather I do it right away (they are firm believers that you should never take gaps in between studies) and that they would hang on to the house so I could live here until I was done. Still, I don't know.

If I get a place of my own, I have to figure out how much I need, what kind of place I want, what I can afford, how much I can save, and what's my timeline. And it'll be hard since I'll be giving my parents a monthly contribution too.

If I go to school, I won't be able to give my parents any money. They may feel obligated to keep the house so I can live here while going to school.

If I get a job... Oh wait! Is anybody even willing to hire me?

Man, life after graduation is going to be more complicated.

Me, My Parents, and My Visa Bill

Ever since I started university, my parents have watched every single bill I get. Yes, my parents open my bank statements and my visa bills. They do this with my younger brother as well. They claim they do it because they're afraid we'll miss a payment or make a late payment otherwise, but I know the truth is that they want to know exactly where we spend our money.

My brother spends freely like money is water, and so he gets a lot of heat from my parents for his insane visa bills. He'll even make late payments!

I try to cut down on my spending by eating more cheaply. This concerns my parents a lot. They think that I am starving myself to pay for school, so they always tell me "remember to eat" even though it's ridiculous--how can I forget to eat?

The other thing my parents have done in the past when they've worried I've been cheap on food in order to pay for school is that they'll occassionally pay my visa bill for me. Now, that makes me concerned, because:

1. They don't even have enough money to retire, how can they start paying my visa bills?
2. What kind of financial responsibility will that teach me if I can just rely on my parents to pay off my visa?

So what I end up doing is not watching the payment due date like most people. Instead, what I do is go online to watch the statement issue date like a hawk. About two days or so before the statement is issued for the month, I go in and pay the balance. That way, when the visa statement arrives at my parents' house, they'll open it and see a ridiculously low balance. Hence, they think I'm frugal, and I get them to stop paying my bills.

I'm writing this cause my statement will be issued in another two days. Time to go pay off that balance.