<p>S1 graduated in May. He went to work right away. Had to have $1100 worth of maintenance work done on his truck in July. DH said “glad he’s working”. S1 will be paying that off himself. </p>
<p>He is not on our insurance policies (medical or auto).<br>
He is still on our cell phone family plan but it is our fault,not his. In June '08 one of us needed a new ph. S1 was the only one whose plan was up for renewal (and cheap new ph) so we used his. We completely forgot that it would extend that sevice for 2 years and that he would grad. college in just one more yr. So he is on our family plan until June and then will get his own.<br>
He and his roommate moved three states away this weekend completely under their own steam. If he has some big emergency, we would help out but otherwise, he’s on his own.</p>
<p>I moved out at 18 and my parents kept me on their health care plan for a year, sent some money for rent, and paid my cell phone bill. I’m 21 now and my parents do not pay a single penny for my lifestyle. The only thing they do now is notify me about deals on health care and car insurance, but do not pay for any of it. They let me use their car when I’m home so long as I fill it with gas. It’s nice being independent. I found myself to be much happier now that I get to make every decision in my life : )</p>
<p>We were concerned once our D graduated from college that she would be uninsured. We were surprised to find out that our kids could stay on our health insurance till age 25 if they were still our dependents–no college requirement. A very pleasant surprise…</p>
<p>To help our kids, first off, we made it possible for them to graduate from undergrad with no loans; then when they graduated, we gave them the car they had driven since HS and paid 6 months insurance on it. Along the way they had to rent apartments with large security deposits, so we gave each of them that initial deposit amount (same for each kid) and told them it was theirs to keep. It was up to them to leave the places clean and in good standing and earn back that deposit money to use for future deposits. They also receive a significant sum upon graduation to get them started</p>
<p>We allow them to be a family talk line on our phone plan, but they do pay the monthly bill. One DD has been a grad student since finishing and did occasionally stay at our home during transitions, she also lived within an hour for one grad school so came home for dinner, laundry and “garage Costco” shopping. She was able to buy health benefits via her school all along.</p>
<p>Another graduate actually ended up with a real live job, salary, benes, insurance, holidays, the whole thing. Very exciting. We are paying the med school costs which will easily range $5-10k with travel and app fees.</p>
<p>We have given auto maintenance as Christmas gifts :)</p>
<p>We pay our S’s health insurance premiums. He is a freelancer, but was able to get a reasonable rate through the local Freelancer’s Union. I used to have him on our family cell phone plan with the stipulation that he pay me his share every month, which was great in theory, but in reality he often “forgot” to pay me. So a few months ago, after a few warnings, I cut him off. I am suffering pangs of guilt (see my thread about equitable spending on kids’ colleges), and would like to help him out a little but I’m not sure that would be good for him. It was his choice to be a freelancer rather than a full time employee because he liked the flexible lifestyle. I didn’t feel it was a realistic choice but it was his to make. So, I feel like he should know what the consequences of those choices are. If I subsidized him now, he will not learn them.</p>
<p>I am just starting to think about all this. S1 is now going to graduate semester early from a 5 year program. He will finish next Christmas…12/2010. Here’s the question I have…I have watched some kids graduate recently and come back to our area.In particular one with a journalism degree from a very good school not in California. She moved back to CA and is living in our fairly rural area with her Mother. Working in the wine industry and not making much. Certainly not enough to be self supporting.
If DS doesn’t land a job right away the problem is this: come back here and there really aren’t a lot of opportunities. Stay in Boston where he is in school? More opportunities and more alum connections/networking but if his job isn’t self supporting do we help him?
Arghh. This economy.<br>
By the way, we have told him since freshman year that when he gets his undergrad we are done. We have paid everything. He will graduate with no loans.</p>
<p>We paid for 4 years of undergrad so S wouldn’t have any loans, but told him he was on his own after graduation. Fortunately for him, he’s a grad student in the sciences & has a good paying research assistantship & health insurance.<br>
We bought him all the things he’d need to set up his kitchen (microwave, foreman grill, pots & pans, etc). Like somemom, we kept him on our family cell plan, but he pays his portion of the bill. He’s in a city & has chosen not to buy a car (altho he has the $ to afford one). We paid his property insurance his first year in grad school (through CSI), but he’s paid for it since.</p>
<p>lol tsdad…my theory about that is that I never took money from my parents or inlaws after I married…that way I could ignore their unwanted advice. :)</p>
<p>My sibs and I moved home for a time after college graduation in '75, '78, and '80. I moved home again after grad school in '87. Our parents had a pretty open-door policy for us while we were trying to sort out our professional lives, and even helped us with health insurance (it was waaaaaay easier to get and a lot cheaper back then), and let us drive their cars all over the place. I fully expect to do the same for Happykid if she needs this kind of assistance in the future.</p>
<p>I feel if an adult child is doing all he can trying to be financially independent yet coming up short, then I will be happy to help. I know a few young adults working as volunteers or nonprofits making small salaries yet living above a subsistence lifestyle, they have to have some financial backing somewhere.</p>
<p>I know friends whose adult children have been financially independent for years but they are starting to help to fund the 529 accounts of their grandchildren. If I am in a position to do so in the future, I will gladly do the same.</p>