“To
the extent that there is a disconnect between parents and their grown children
on these financial topics, our data show that families can look to mom to help
bridge that gap,” says Lauren Brouhard, senior vice president of retirement in
Fidelity’s Personal Investing unit.
Oh the dreaded “talk.” Where do
you start? Who should you approach first, Mom or Dad? Experts suggest starting
the money and finances “talk” with Mom.
Fidelity
Investments specifically suggests that moms are the best source of open
dialogue, even when it comes to the “money talk.” In fact, MarketWatch recently considered this in an article titled “In family-money talks, start with mom.”
A summary of the numbers from
that article:
In the survey of 975
parents and 152 adult children, 64% of mothers said it was “not at all
difficult” to start a conversation with an adult child about their finances;
only 54% of fathers felt the same way. In addition, 79% of women, versus 69% of
men, reported having had “comprehensive discussions” with their adult children
about estate planning or wills. The same was true of 66% of women vs. 56%
of men about health and elder-care topics and 70% of women vs. 55% of men about
running out of money in retirement.
Although there are many reasons
why moms might be the best to approach, most of them are mere conjecture. More
important, however, is the reality that senior parents really do not enjoy
talking about their finances. That is understandable.
All that noted, “the talk” needs
to be had, sooner rather than later.
For more information and articles on
estate planning and elder law topics, please visit our website
and sign up for our free monthly e-newsletter. You can also friend
our law practice's Facebook page (R Christine Brown). #ElderLaw #ElderCare #Estate Planning #Torrance #ElderLawAttorney
Reference: MarketWatch
(May 7, 2013) “In family-money talks, start with mom”