The Plight of the Open-Faced Sandwich Generation

If you believe the hype, being a grandparent is a stress-free gig. You get to spoil your grandchildren, and if their parents disagree with each other about matters related to parenting, you as a grandparent get to cast the deciding vote. The reality is usually less glamorous. If the child’s parents and grandparents are both financially self-sustaining, then grandparents sulk endlessly about the parents keeping their distance, and the parents walk around under a dark cloud born of the grandparents’ guilt trips. The grandparents might set up a trust fund, because it is the only way to contribute financially without seeming like they are trying to be controlling, but in the end, no one can enjoy it; by the time the grandchildren spend the money, the grandparents are no longer healthy enough to get the emotional boost from it that they otherwise would have gotten, and the grandchildren are resentful about being trust fund babies. To you, this sounds like high class worries. You support your children and grandchildren financially because, without you, they would be destitute. If this sounds like you, then you are officially a member of the open-faced sandwich generation. You may not have two dimes to rub together once you are finished paying everyone’s bills, but you, as much as anyone else, need a Dade City estate planning lawyer.

Estate Planning Like You Are Your Family’s Last Hope

Grandparents who are the main source of financial support for their families are increasingly common. Much digital ink has been spilled about solo aging, about the cohort of retirees who do not have spouses or children and must rely on their own resources for long-term care. Seniors who have descendants may be rich in family, but most of them are not rolling in dough; financial hardship in our society has affected almost everyone, and the oldest people, the ones who spent decades in the workforce before financial long-COVID and its endless parade of aftershocks, are the most likely to have a financial cushion. Consider that most homeowners with zero mortgage debt are over the age of 65.

If you own your house but have no retirement savings, having your children and grandchildren live with you may be the best option for the long-term financial wellbeing of your family. You might not even have that, though. Some grandparents are raising their grandchildren full-time, and in only some of these cases have they officially adopted or fostered the children. People who are responsible for children, no matter how little property they own, need an estate plan more than anyone else does. At minimum, you need a medical advance directive and a plan for who will care for your grandchildren if you suffer a long-term illness.

Contact a Florida Estate Planning Attorney About Estate Planning for Grandparents Who Carry the Weight of the World

An estate planning attorney can help you make a realistic plan for retirement if you do not have retirement savings and are financially supporting the younger generations.  Contact The Law Office of Laurie R. Chane in Dade City, Florida to discuss your case.

Source:

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