Sounds like spoiled brats to me!

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

Helping Kids Fend for Themselves - WSJ.com

Out of School and Mommy still paying the cell phone bill?

One new survey of 1,000 parents of 23- to 28-year-olds sponsored by Charles Schwab Corp. found that 41% are providing at least some financial support to an adult child. The parents cited college debt and employment issues as the main reasons.

[resehop]

Funny, I am in that age range and we have been paying for my husband's parents and my parents cell phone bills for 3 years now. Wonder what the % is on that.

[kayumangi]

I blame the parents. Too much helicopter parenting.

When we were at that age group we were halfway across the globe fending for ourselves and sending money to support two families.

Oh wait, I'm still at that age group =)

[carrbowl]

"The parents cited college debt and employment issues as the main reasons."
Please...come up with a good excuse at least. Guess they are learning political lessons.."it's not my fault" someone else take care of it.

[donlfaulkner]

"The new rules require parents to cosign on a credit card with a young adult under 21, unless the child can show enough income to qualify independently. "

As one who has been burned by offspring never, Never, NEVER, NEVER EVER cosign on anyones loan.

[ggeen]

Originally Posted by donlfaulkner

"The new rules require parents to cosign on a credit card with a young adult under 21, unless the child can show enough income to qualify independently. "

As one who has been burned by offspring never, Never, NEVER, NEVER EVER cosign on anyones loan.

Here's a clue...don't sign. I did not have a credit card until I started working after college.

[donlfaulkner]

I thought I was helping the lad get his credit established. Got screwed! He nearly ruined mine, which wasn't all that good to begin with (due in large part to ex). And nearly ruined my new wife's credit. Hers was much better than mine. Never again!

[ggeen]

Originally Posted by donlfaulkner

I thought I was helping the lad get his credit established. Got screwed! He nearly ruined mine, which wasn't all that good to begin with (due in large part to ex). And nearly ruined my new wife's credit. Hers was much better than mine. Never again!

The best intentions shall never go unpunished.

I just hear the same story over and over again. The fact is, for certain folks, they will not stop spending on a credit card until the cashier takes it away and cuts it up.

I hope that your credit got straightened out.

[pcdeatherage]

if the kid is in school and trying, or even out in the world trying...truly trying...I'm going to help if I can...

[Jeff_Green]

Originally Posted by donlfaulkner

As one who has been burned by offspring never, Never, NEVER, NEVER EVER cosign on anyone's loan.

+1
I cosigned on a car for one of my older brothers. He let someone borrow it, she wrecked it and didn't have insurance... totaled. He stopped paying it... lesson learned.

[HeatherLou]

Jeff's Dad will sometimes help us out with stuff. When our house got broke into, he gave me his credit card to replace all of my gear. However, when I got the insurance money, I paid back every penny I borrowed. But at 28, to have your parent supporting you? That's a bit silly.

[L Stegall]

Originally Posted by pcdeatherage

if the kid is in school and trying, or even out in the world trying...truly trying...I'm going to help if I can...

I gotta say, I'm with Patrick on this one. I think every situation is different, but I have sure seen the ill effects of parents "helping" kids with things they wanted versus needed. We have tried to avoid that, but I would help out if there was a legitimate need for something that they just couldn't do. And, I certainly appreciate my parents giving me a start into the real world back in my day. That said, I haven't minded keeping my 20-something son on our "family" cell plan - I've also got my 80-year old mom on it, so it's much cheaper than him getting his own.... other than that, he's been pretty self sufficient for awhile.....but he does have a job. I do think that these post-college kids without jobs, especially the ones with student loan debt, are in a really tough situation.

[brad]

I think you should be careful on how broad of a brush you use for things. As Lisa says, every situation is different. That number is high, for sure, but you have no idea what it really means or the agenda of the people who created the survey.... or even how the survey was collected. How large was the sample group? What social and economic statuses made up the group?

Companies don't do surveys like this because they want to know. They pay money for surveys because they want to make money off the results.

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

IT WAS DONE BY Charles Schwab (brokerage house)! How can they make $$ off the results? Other than telling parents that they may need to save $$ to support their adult children who may be getting out of college.

When I got out of College and most of the people who graduated the same time that I did had little if any student debt if they were attending state colleges because most of them worked during the summer or while they were in school while now it looks like one of the first things the kids get is a loan to live higher on the hog than they should and once they are out of school they have this huge debt overhanging them that they can't just walk away from.

Now there were credit card companies set up either at the bookstores, the student union or even outside registration trying to get kids to sign up even then (BTW the legal drinking age was 18 then) but most kids didn't take the bait because they understood what 16-18% interest meant and tossing a lot of debt on a card for meals and non-necessities was going to cost them a lot. (this isn't saying that some didn't get the cards and bury themselves in debt but nothing like they do now).

So if the kid has a Degree and a job and mommy still has to send them money and pay their bills then they need to learn how to live on a Budget!

Now several people have brought up the family cell plans and that is all and good but if the child is 1/4th of the family on the plan they need to send Mommy 1/4th the cost of the plan!

I'm not talking about families helping out in a crisis or emergency but the constant suckling on Mommy and Daddy that is happening by gen Y.

!

[venchka]

I thought this would be about the gummermint.