[Retirement Planning Part 4] Is education spending, which tends to become a sanctuary, just 'parental self-satisfaction'? Priorities to prevent retirement bankruptcy

Hello! This is Chaso-sensei🧑‍🏫.

'I want to expand my child's potential'—that wish itself is noble, but we must calmly reconsider whether it is an investment that should be made even at the expense of the parents' retirement funds.

1. The Trap of Prioritizing Education Expenses
The 'Parent' Debt Children Carry

Expensive cram schools, private middle schools, study abroad. Investing all your assets in these, only to have your own retirement 'depend on your children', is putting the cart before the horse.
Educational achievements belong to the child
Passing a difficult school is ultimately the result of the child's own efforts. Just because parents spent money, expecting a 'return' in the future is merely an ego that hinders the child's independence🙅‍♂️

The burden from the child's perspective
The biggest burden for a child is parental care🧓 and financial support💴. Even if it means cutting back on education expenses, ensuring that parents have '
funds to enter a nursing home on their own' is what truly frees the child's future.

2. Asset formation leads to peace of mind for both parent and child

The idea that 'my children will take care of me in the future' is nothing but a risk in today's economic climate and family views.
Preparing for an unpredictable future
Soaring prices and increased longevity due to medical advancements. The costs of retirement may far exceed what you currently imagine.

The resolve not to become a 'liability'😅 Parents who are appreciated by their children are
not those who spend lavishly on education, but those who stand on their own two feet until the end and do not get in the way of their children's lives😊

3. Reevaluating 'Wasteful' Education Spending

Excessive educational investment sometimes turns into 'waste' that satisfies the parents' vanity.

Checklist for 'Prioritizing' Education Expenses vs. Retirement Funds

Here are three points to reconsider in order to become 'independent' as a parent, without being swayed by social norms or appearances.

1. Education Expenses

What to prioritize
Minimum necessary support based on the child's own desire to learn.
What to reconsider
'Vanity' driven by impatience from comparing with others, or 'excessive early education' that parents force upon them.

2. Retirement Funds
The 'defense line' that must never be broken
What to prioritize
'Absolute savings' to ensure you do not cause financial trouble for your children in the future.
What to reconsider
Baseless, optimistic plans that 'the children will figure it out.'

3. Parent-Child Relationship
'Independence and gratitude' instead of dependence
What to prioritize
A stance where parents are mentally independent and express gratitude to their children for their efforts.
What to reconsider
A mindset of expecting a 'return' (repayment) in the form of future care or favors in exchange for the education expenses spent. '

Education expenses should be provided within a range that does not sacrifice the parents' retirement'. Drawing this line is what truly sets your children free.

Be grateful to your children and face your retirement on your own two feet

Spending on education is often considered a virtue, but if it is strangling your own finances, it is simply a lack of planning. Instead of holding it over your child's head by saying 'I did this much for you,' to be a parent who can say, '
I am responsible for my own life, so you should live yours freely.' Reviewing your education expense allocation now and increasing the speed of your asset formation is directly linked to the happiness of the entire family.

Summary

It is easy to imagine that just caring for aging parents is a heavy burden on children, let alone having to deal with their financial troubles... No matter how wonderful a parent they were for providing a great learning environment... it is problematic to be completely dependent on your children, isn't it? 😅 As a teacher 🧑‍🏫, from the perspective of someone who looks after children, I think that

rather than whether or not you spent money, it is more important that you love your children, watch them closely, talk to them, and are involved with them.

Let's fulfill our responsibilities as parents until the very end! 😄
If things get desperate, we help each other. Since we will end up relying on them in our old age, I want to be the kind of parent who at least leaves some money behind for them. 😄
Thank you for watching. 😊