I have a few older friends and relatives who really cannot have an “equal” conversation: every time you even mention that you are considering doing something, they chime in and tell you what do do instead. Example: “Oh I must remember to max out my IRA tomorrow before the deadline”, “Don’t contribute to an IRA when you are saving for a house”. OK… I don’t think I asked? Some are now so extreme that I basically grey rock them now.
Like the whole self-esteem/bullies thing, I often wonder whether it’s a case of this person being really insecure about their life choices and feeling the need to push them onto others for validation, or being really secure about their choices and feeling able to share their incredible wisdom with us lesser folk. I think it’s a mixture of both.
Seems to correlate highly with classic middle-age bragging posts on Facebook.