1
Caller: “ I have a net worth of about $3 million and my Dad has asked for $55,000 to pay his debt. What should i do?”
Caller: My 80 year old father is asking my husband and me for $55,000 to pay off his credit card and car loan debt.
Dave: What’s your financial situation?
Carla: We’re retired, debt free, net worth between $2 and $3 million but we’re on a fixed income and would have to dip into retirement accounts to do it.
Dave: And your husband’s position?
Carla: He’s firmly against it. But my dad is very persuasive and I feel guilty saying no.
Dave: Carla, the answer is no. You have no moral, ethical, or biblical obligation to fund your father’s bad financial habits especially when manipulation is part of how he’s asking.
Carla: But he’s 80 and he’s my dad.
Dave: Being your dad doesn’t give him the right to your retirement. And “no” is a complete sentence. Don’t give him an encyclopedia of reasons, he’ll debate every one. Be brief, be gentle, and be firm.
Carla: What can I offer instead?
Caller: I just landed a job as a machine learning consultant making $285,000 a year. As soon as my parents found out, they started pressuring me to pay off their three car loans, their mortgage, and my 13h ago