How have you helped your parents after you entered finance and are making $$$?

My dad and mom, who are poor, but sacrificed a lot for me (working 2 jobs, working on weekends, etc.), I'm sending them off to a nice long vacation, all paid by me. What have you guys done for your parents, just out of curiosity? Also paid off all of their debt they had (under 5k). Seems like it would be a small nice gesture on my part for all the things they've done for me.

Mod Note (Andy): top 50 posts of 2017, this one ranks #49 (based on # of silver bananas)

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I've given them money and bought them shit. They're not poor, but I make more than them by a lot. I'll put my niece through college as well.

They worked hard and deserve it. Always the best money I spend.

 

Since my young siblings haven't even applied to college yet, I help my parents by giving them something to brag about when they have Asian family dinner parties. Jk.

I still benefit more from them financially than they do for me right now (ex. under parents medical insurance plan, family phone/data plan, always sent home with a bunch of food after I visit, family vacation every year or so). They are still relatively better off than I am at the moment (slightly lower income but cost of living in NYC vs. suburbs), but I'll pay for the occasional dinner and some gifts (like luxury brand scarves or the latest tech gadget) after year-end bonuses. Will also cover part of my younger sibling's college costs in a few years, covering stuff like books, food, spending money, etc.

 

I no longer eat their food so that has got to save them about $1,000 on the schwans tab a month.

I turned my brother (communications major) onto trading and now he is generating some descent returns for himself and our father. He dove head first into Benjamin Graham, found his way onto zero hedge, subscribes to wsj and is working on different options trading strategies. It makes me happy when he his applying stats into his trading and building out excel templates to help make decisions.

Only two sources I trust, Glenn Beck and singing woodland creatures.
 

Still one thing I wish I had when I was in high school- brothers who were into that type of stuff. Instead I got one that is a trained fighter (comes in handy) and one who is about to work on the Hill.

 

Despite my parents strong objections, I hand them around 95% of my salary + bonus when I am in work (currently unemployed). I am not motivated by money and I intend to continue doing this. The plan is to earn enough to let my parents retire in the next 3 years.

 

I used to be very materialistic. I always used to have a front and I used to have to buy the most expensive stuff I could buy. Then one day I met this old sage. He gave me one of the best advice ever. He told me "you must look within and not without" Had no idea what it meant at the time but I let it set in my head and it all became clear. External things will never make me happy. If I am not happy alone with myself now then I never will be happy. Money will only provide me with the tools to mask my inner self in more elaborate ways.

I met a rock star banker once. He was very successful in life. He told me that if I am not happy making £30000 a year, I wont be happy making ten times that amount.

 

Pitched in $20k so my parents could top another offer in time to buy then furnish their dream apartment. ($20k is not much here but it's ~2.5x my parents combined annual earnings and goes a long way in term of purchasing power in my EM country).

Also paid for a 2 week family vacation in Europe. I still remember how happy my parents were on that gondola ride through Venice. As others said, best money I have spent.

Nothing is true; everything is permitted.
 
Best Response

The biggest thing for me was just helping my mother get a job. She had worked in a restaurant all her life and when it failed she had nothing to do and became bored and depressed like life had no meaning. She had literally no application or interview skills and had been stuck in the same town most of her life. When she was rejected for minimum wage job at the local store she felt even more worthless.

I asked her what she wanted to do and she said she wanted to be an air hostess. At 50 years of age this was laughable but I did the next best thing.

I taught her application, computer and interview skills and landed her a job on a cruise ship travelling the world. That was 10 years ago and she still loves it. It was never about the money (as I could have supported her and her earnings are still minimal) but rather the self-worth and the chance to meet new people everyday and see places she never dreamed of. She has been to more places in 2 years than I probably ever will in my whole life! It gave her purpose, confidence in herself and the ability to make friends which is worth so much more than money.

This year she wanted to come back on land and found herself a hotel job in London. She wouldn't have been able to afford to rent here so I switched my city flat for a bigger house in the suburbs so I could get a spare room for her to live in so she could get the job.

 

The first cool thing I was able to do is fly them both first class (their first time sitting up front ever) to my mom's 50th high school reunion, nicest hotel (in that area... it wasn't RC/4S by any means) caddy rental and covered all other trip expenses.

Meant a lot to her, as she really wanted to go, and wasn't thinking they would, as my pop's wasn't physically able to drive, and even flying economy was out of the question.

 

I hope to eventually pay them for the $200K college tuition they covered. They aren't poor by any stretch of the imagination (Dad works in BB ops and Mom is in tech), but they pinched pennies while I was growing up so they could afford to send my brother and I to an amazing public school and expensive universities.

 
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<span itemprop=name>jackdonaghy26</span>:

I hope to eventually pay them for the $200K college tuition they covered. They aren't poor by any stretch of the imagination (Dad works in BB ops and Mom is a tech project manager), but they pinched pennies while I was growing up so they could afford to send my brother and I to an amazing public school and expensive universities.

Oh the poor BB ops family, good on ya son...good on ya

 
<span itemprop=name>dutchduke</span>:
jackdonaghy26:

I hope to eventually pay them for the $200K college tuition they covered. They aren't poor by any stretch of the imagination (Dad works in BB ops and Mom is a tech project manager), but they pinched pennies while I was growing up so they could afford to send my brother and I to an amazing public school and expensive universities.

Oh the poor BB ops family, good on ya son...good on ya

Opslivesmatter
GoldenCinderblock: "I keep spending all my money on exotic fish so my armor sucks. Is it possible to romance multiple females? I got with the blue chick so far but I am also interested in the electronic chick and the face mask chick."
 

My mom died of cancer when I was young, so had only my dad and younger sis. My finance/real estate career helped me pay for my dad's in-home care and later assisted living to supplement his pension. I almost got fired from finance as an analyst, but managed to rebound and shine. He had a stroke a year after I graduated and had needs for about 8 years. He passed away a couple years ago but I miss him every day. He was a veteran, kindest man.

Have compassion as well as ambition and you’ll go far in life. Check out my blog at MemoryVideo.com
 

Donated a bunch to my kid brother's school (he's disabled). Also, treated them to Shake Shack - most amazing burgers ever (we hadn't eaten that kind of "expensive" food before that)!

GoldenCinderblock: "I keep spending all my money on exotic fish so my armor sucks. Is it possible to romance multiple females? I got with the blue chick so far but I am also interested in the electronic chick and the face mask chick."
 

My parents (my mom at least) make a lot more than I do still, so I mostly just visit them a lot. Consultant life makes that easy, and they love when I spend a weekend home rather than going home/elsewhere. Actually doing that this weekend.

I did get to put my skills in resume review and networking (thanks partly to WSO and partly to my professional experience) to work for my mom recently. Her company closed the office where she lives and she was given a few months' notice that she would be put out of a job, so I spent hours with her going through job postings, crafting a resume, practicing interviewing and networking, and evaluating job offers. I was able to help her land another job making as much money--with a better title and more upside--working closer to home than she was in her old position. It was strange to be in a complete reversal of relationships with my mother, but she hadn't interviewed for anything in the past 20 years and was unfamiliar with modern hiring practices. I'd consider the help I gave her to be very valuable, moreseo than any gift I could afford to purchase, and we definitely grew closer through it.

Nothing short of everything will really do.
 

Just saw her new office for the first time this weekend and it's so nice. Texas oil money nice = Limestone floor to ceiling, dark wood floors, oatmeal bar, ridiculous coffee machine, leather sofas.

There was also a large portrait of a cowboy shooting a bloodied Native American in the chest as featured entryway art, and one manager had stirrups and chaps hanging on his coat rack. Gotta love Texas.

Nothing short of everything will really do.
 

This was roughly 2-3 months into my first FT job out of college and I had just saved under 10k. My parents and sibling came to visit me for the first time in America and I practically paid for all expenses: 4-5 star hotels, meals, car rental, Vegas where I booked luxury suites in the Palazzo, shopping, etc. I spent all my savings but every dime was worth to just make them proud. It wasn't too bad either since I got to spend money on myself as well (mainly gambling in Vegas..).

 

I have a dream of buying my father a boat.

My parents are ok, as long as my mom keeps working (she loves her job) but my sister and brother are artists. I hope they never have financial troubles, but It would make me happy to be able to bail them out, since my parents wont be able to.

Also, my parents are basically financially illiterate, so probably the most valuable thing I have sone ao far is provide financial advice.

 
<span itemprop=name>realjackryan</span>:

Also, my parents are basically financially illiterate, so probably the most valuable thing I have sone ao far is provide financial advice.

This is by far the biggest help that any experienced person on these forums can give their parents. It's quite surprising when your parents don't know about various ways they could have saved on taxes or get better returns on savings. Or even how to organize savings to maintain stability and boost returns. Nobody wants their dad to be in a situation like Steve Bannon's.

GoldenCinderblock: "I keep spending all my money on exotic fish so my armor sucks. Is it possible to romance multiple females? I got with the blue chick so far but I am also interested in the electronic chick and the face mask chick."
 

I like this question. Since I'm still a freshman in college I can really only think about what I will do for them when I am making a large amount of money. Will definitely buy my oldest brother new golf clubs, my middle brother is about to be nuts deep in wealth so it'll just be small meaningful stuff to him, my dad will receive an all expense paid sailing trip somewhere off the coast of the northeast, and I'll probably send my mom off to Spain or Italy. I like to think of these as goals for my work as well. What I mean is, yeah I want to be rich and successful and have nice things, but thinking of being able to pay for all that to give to my family makes me work 15x harder at my goals. Baby steps though.

 

Parents were doing pretty well but after my father passed away - 5 days after coming home from my freshman year - things were tight, not dire, for my mother. As soon as I was done with school, I cleared the chunk of debt ($30k) she had accumulated due to financial illiteracy.
Continue to pay for her travel when she is going to come see me and my family. I also use my miles/points so that she can take a trip with a friend every year.

 

Lol, up up up!!

GoldenCinderblock: "I keep spending all my money on exotic fish so my armor sucks. Is it possible to romance multiple females? I got with the blue chick so far but I am also interested in the electronic chick and the face mask chick."
 

My mum and dad split, both are artists (generally it's not a financially rewarding career), but my father came from a wealthy family who paid cash for our house/my private schooling, my mum has never had that security so my goal is to buy her a house that she can call hers!

 

You know what? MAD RESPECT to all of us on this thread who have made great contributions to their families and parents. We hustled, we pulled through, we won. Now I hope this thread serves as a motivation for kids on here who have the determination to succeed and work things out for their loved ones. And I hope this shit becomes more inspiring for kids than the whole (non-extant) idea of "models and bottles.

GoldenCinderblock: "I keep spending all my money on exotic fish so my armor sucks. Is it possible to romance multiple females? I got with the blue chick so far but I am also interested in the electronic chick and the face mask chick."
 

My mom is obsessed with Mini Coopers but too cheap to buy one. I think I might lease her one this summer. It's probably going to be like $7k for 2 years. She'll probably get tired of it far before.

 

I just bought my entire family christmas gifts for the first time and holy shit it felt so good. Previous years, they've always said don't buy us anything, the most perfect gift is doing well in the classroom and improving yourself. Look how it paid off :))

 

Wow! I can't believe I made a top 50 post on WSO. What an honor! I first want to thank god for making this possible. Next I want to thank my parents for conceiving me and giving me life. I also want to thank my incredible siblings because they've been here from the start. And, lastly, thank you WSO for making this possible and making me believe in my dreams and never giving up.

 

In the process of selling my mom's house, kicking out my faggy stepdad, buying and rehabbing a new one for her in my name so he can't come after in in divorce

heister: Look at all these wannabe richies hating on an expensive salad. https://arthuxtable.com/
 

Awesome post because not only props for all of you for giving back, but because it will hopefully encourage others to do the same as well. It definitely makes me feel like I should do more because why not. Currently, I paid off about 30K of my student loans versus having my parents pay it (they offered), and I cover the monthly family cell phone bill (covers me, my parents, and 2 sisters).

EDIT: Did not realize this thread is all the way from 12/2017. Sorry for reviving. But I guess anyone here in 2019? Haha

 

this is probably the most satisfying aspect of working on wall st. some say you have to love finance to which i say bs. finance for many is a means to an end. it allows you to work hard, endure some stress, and make many multiples of what you could make in many other very noble fields. being able to give back to parents is for me the best money i spend each year. i take my parents on vacay each year and give them 15-20k a year to help them live a more comfortable life. They get by as they've saved hard their whole life but this give them extra travel and spending money to be more comfy as who knows how long they'll be healthy enough to travel.

 

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When life gives you kefir and flour, make some blins.
 

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