A 2021 study by the Census revealed that childless adults age 55 and older had a median net worth of $153,900 compared to $130,400 for biological parents.
Obviously it’s not for everyone, but I had this conversation with my parents after telling them I planned not to have children and it was… Fine? Kind of a bonding moment, even, we mostly just laughed about it.
Not every parent/child relationship trends this way, but for some of us there’s a point in adulthood where you just become friends with your parents, and the parent/child roles sort of fall away. If everybody’s mature and secure enough to handle it, talk about whatever the hell you want to.
I am quite certain that you are a skilled enough communicator to not say
If I had to redo my life, that’s what I’d do.
Which is directly wishing your children were never born, and is a fundamentally different conversation from “By all means, opt not to have children - our financial lives would look quite different if we did not.”
As with most things, how you say it matters as much or more than what you’re saying.
Obviously it’s not for everyone, but I had this conversation with my parents after telling them I planned not to have children and it was… Fine? Kind of a bonding moment, even, we mostly just laughed about it.
Not every parent/child relationship trends this way, but for some of us there’s a point in adulthood where you just become friends with your parents, and the parent/child roles sort of fall away. If everybody’s mature and secure enough to handle it, talk about whatever the hell you want to.
I am quite certain that you are a skilled enough communicator to not say
Which is directly wishing your children were never born, and is a fundamentally different conversation from “By all means, opt not to have children - our financial lives would look quite different if we did not.”
As with most things, how you say it matters as much or more than what you’re saying.