How Can I Help My Parents Financially As A Student?

Have you talked to your parents about the situation?

Have you understood the financial issue and the cause of it?

Have you tried sitting down with your parents and setting up a budget?

Have you tried helping around the house where possible?

Have you asked their parents if they are willing to downsize and whether it is viable?

You’ll want to have a frank conversation with your parents. You don’t have to start by laying out the nitty-gritty details of their budget. Instead, try talking more generally about your parents’ goals and needs as they approach old age. Do they want to live on their own as long as possible? Have they considered retirement or assisted living facility, depending on their physical and medical needs? This will help in finding solutions that might be either short term or long term and helpful.

Figure out where your parents are financially. You might even want to consider pulling in a financial planner who can look holistically at your parents’ investments, retirement accounts, and other assets. This can help you get a more objective view of the best way to allocate resources. By this time, you should already know what you are willing and able to contribute to your parents’ care and well-being. Hopefully, you also have an idea of what, if anything, your siblings can contribute.

If your parents are seeking ways to stretch their money further, a simple way to help them financially is to sit down together and draft a basic budget that factors in their income and expenses every month. If their income less than expenses is negative, they're breaking even, or the amount is positive but they're spending too much, look for areas where they can earn more or spend less to live more comfortably.

Help with maintenance or repairs. If your parents need help paying for car or home repairs, and you have the skills to do them, offer to do these repairs for them occasionally.

If your parents are finding their current home in-affordable because of its size, it may make sense for them to downsize. Help them run the numbers on how much a move to a smaller home would save them over time to determine whether it's worth it. The analysis should factor in their mortgage, housing-related expenses, and the cost of the move.

You may be young now, but it's never too early to start saving—especially if your parents have no money for their current needs or have a financially insecure future. This is an important step to take when helping parents who are struggling financially because medical emergencies can happen suddenly and without warning. Having money set aside to help you cover some of these costs can make a last-minute situation less stressful.