SINGAPORE: At her wits’ end, a woman took to social media to express her frustration with her parents’ financial management issue.
“Both of my parents have never been transparent about their finances, and when we try to talk to them to see how we can help them plan and manage their finances better, my mum always shuts us down by saying, “Don’t worry, God will help us,” the daughter wrote on r/singaporefi on Sunday (March 3).
“Dad is 70+, not working. Mum is 60+ and still working. She makes ~3.6k / month, and my sister and I give them an additional 1,850/month,” she added.
The daughter then explained that her parents still make “some questionable financial decisions” that could hurt them in the long run.
This includes hiring a helper for S$600 per month, generously giving substantial amounts of ang pao (more than S$1,000) whenever family members or friends have a wedding or a baby, and availing health insurance premiums they cannot afford.
“When we tell them they can’t afford this and that, and they should be saving instead, they just say it’s the right thing to do,” the daughter wrote.
In addition, when the daughter and her siblings suggested downsizing their flat, their parents refused.
“Anyone has stubborn parents like this? Any advice? Or am I just the bad guy here for wanting them not to give so much cash away and downsize?”
“Perhaps you and your sister can hold your monthly contributions?”
Singaporean Redditors quickly responded to the woman’s post, offering advice on how to best deal with her parents’ money troubles.
One individual suggested, “Perhaps you and your sister can hold your monthly contributions? Hold it in a ‘custodian’ account where you will only use it to pay for more essential items.”
While another said, “The priority has to be health insurance. Pay that for them instead of giving them cash every month. The rest is not yours to decide.”
Others, however, argued that the woman and her siblings should understand their parents’ situation more.
They stated that hiring a helper was absolutely necessary for her parents, given that they are now elderly and will inevitably need help managing household chores.
Additionally, they asserted that the monthly expenditure of S$600 was a good deal.
One individual added, “Your dad is 70 plus; if he falls or falls sick, your mum won’t be able to help much. It’s better to have a helper to do the difficult chores like washing and hanging clothes and scrubbing toilets.
It’s not easy work to do chores when you are old.”
Some explained that giving generous amounts of ang pao was necessary for her parents because they were in the latter stages of their lives and needed to share the goodwill, leave a legacy, and make a lasting impression on friends and relatives.
In similar news, a man also took to social media earlier this year to share a financial mistake that his parents made: investing millions with a financial agent.
Desperate to resolve this alarming problem, he sought advice on Reddit from fellow Singaporeans.
“Is there anything at all I can do to get this money back so my parents can finally retire in their late 60s? Any advice is appreciated, as I can’t bear to see him [financial agent] continually lying to my parents. Thank you,” the man wrote on an online forum.
Read more: Son shares that his parents invested “millions with an FA, and now they can’t get it back.”