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Comment by jimbob45 | Hacker News Reader

It’s not. If you have older parents today, you can do the math on what activities they’re doing and quickly determine that you’re never going to see a cent from them. My friends all report the same.

I may sound salty but I’m not. I’ve spent enough time on Reddit to know that the real nightmare is when your parents didn’t save anything and can’t still work. Then, you’re obligated to take care of them and they actively take away from both you and their grandchildren (if they didn’t outright block you from being able to have kids in the first place).

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> Then, you’re obligated to take care of them

No, you very much are not.

Well, in 3/5 of the United States you are. Look up filial laws. They’re rarely enforced but they’re there.

Well thankfully I don’t live in that broken country.

Most of us are thankful our parents took care of us and do love them. I recognize that it’s not everyone but I think most kids don’t want to see their parents suffer.

If a parent starts with a home bought by the grandparent and dual income and a lot of money, and end up not having a pension because they spent all the money on holidays and multiple homes and zero investing, would you feel like you need to support them?

I feel constantly conflicted, the previous generation started with way more and wasted a lot more and now we are called in to support them, affecting their grandchildren? I don't think that's ok

As a parent I would far rather suffer than see my kids suffer.

As a child of parents who think like this, I refuse to let them.

People with irresponsible parents often end up feeling less responsibility towards them. People with responsible parents often feel more responsibility towards them. Often, the irresponsible groups are suffering more consequences too, which adds to the bitterness.

Of course there are other permutations, since life is full of so many uncontrollable factors.

Believe it or not I’m also a child of parents

So my kids should suffer more than me, and I should suffer more than my parents?

> Most

I’d love to see a source for that.

> I’ve spent enough time on Reddit to know

Please tell me you see the irony in this.

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