What is the Sandwich Generation?
This generation is belonging to the group of people age between 30s & 50s. The word “Sandwich” represents the people, who take care of their children as well as their old parents too.
Being a parent is not an easy task, you have to sacrifice a lot to make your kid’s life comfortable and the ageing parents too. A day in the life of this generation is like wake-up early morning and packs food for their children and make sure their tummy is full. After that, office work where they have to face a lot of work pressure. But between the work, you got to go because you have to take your mother to the hospital for a check-up.
Living a life of “SANDWICH GENERATION” is not easy but it is the truth. You have to pass through this period once in life. And you cannot run from it. If you belong to the sandwich generation or not, it doesn’t matter. You should know how to take care of your personal and financial relationship.
Now, let’s have a look at how you can manage all the things without feeling pressurise.
Learn to categorise work
People of this age feel anxious about how to manage all the stuff. Sometimes, they forget so many important things related to their kids or ageing parents and that makes them more uncomfortable. The best way to manage the deal with this type of problem is “LEARN HOW TO CATEGORISE AND PRIORITISE THE WORK”.
You can start this by writing the entire important task (per-day) on sticky notes. And put that list on your refrigerator. Make sure you arrange them according to their time. Though, you may find it difficult but with the time, you will learn how to prioritise them. Make sure you take proper rest and sleep that would help you take the right decision.
Talk to your parents
Money talks with ageing parents are a bit awkward. And it becomes more difficult when they belong to those one with traditional thinking. But this small step can help you get relief from a lot of work pressure. Assemble all your confidence and talk with your parents.
Tell them about “RETIREMENT INCOME PLAN” and various types of other insurance that could help them in case of emergency. Probably, it may seem weird to them because they have never heard this term before. Or you can assist a person (if you are financially stable) to take care of your parents.
Financial security
It is one of the biggest duties for the 30s to 50s generation because losing financial stability can push their parents and children in danger. To tackle this problem, you can create a budget plan. Make sure, you have put all the necessary expenses into it.
You may face some unexpected expenses that can ruin your plan. In that scenario, you can choose various options to arrange money such as:
- Sell the unnecessary stuff that you hate now
- Break the accumulated fund especially for emergency
If you fail to get help in this way then you can borrow money from your friends. OR you can go for installment loans with benefits like flexible repayment timing and you can pay the whole amount without disturbing your financial plan.
Take help from professional
If you are failing to manage all the works despite having the efforts, then you can consult an expert. They will tell you different ways and can help you to manage the entire doings efficiently without disturbing other aspects of life.
Talk to your children
The involvement of children is as important as the involvement of old parents. You can talk to your children about money and time. Teach them the importance of money as well as relationship. This will help you to reduce the workload.
Suppose where you have to bring some extra time to take your parents to the clinic. At that moment, your children can do that task and reduce your work pressure. In this way, they will understand different things and learn how to take care of old people.
Save for yourself
It is a bit challenging because you already have a lot of expenses that may exhaust your savings. But you have to save whatever amount you want to. There is no limitation, as you can also save 2 pounds without any hesitation.
You can either choose this saving to manage surprising expenses OR you can save for post retirement life.
The sandwich generation has an unpleasant task. But with open communication with parents and children can make it satisfying. All you have to follow a proper routine and do not forget to give time to yourself. It will help you to take better financial decisions.