The Sandwich Generation.
Yup! That is probably you.
What is the “Sandwich Generation?” It is a term that is being used to describe the current generation of parents that are finding themselves in a precarious place between the generation that came before and they generation they are raising.
This group of people, broadly in the age ranges of 30-50 (part of the sub-50 category that is at such risk for future financial trouble) is finding themselves to be the first generation that is having to financially care for parents and their children at the same time.
Simultaneously, the sandwich generation is having to save and build for their own financial futures, raise their children in an every increasingly challenging financial environment (and save for their college) while also being asked to devote time and resources to the care of their aging parents.
How can they do this?
In short, they can’t. In fact, many in this group are opting in to sacrificing their own financial future for the sake of two different generations. This is an important contextual situation to understand and take seriously when it comes to how we look at what is healthy for people, with economic stability being a key component.
This may be the first time you are hearing the term “Sandwich Generation” and it is an important concept for us to focus our attention on.
“Taking on responsibility for the financial security of three generations, the adults caught in the middle may feel squeezed into sacrificing a comfortable retirement for themselves in order to fulfill their obligations to their children and senior parents.” is how the NASAA (North American Securities Administrators Association) frames it.
Here is a link to their resource page about this important topic.
As always, if you come across a financially related article you’d like to send my way please do!
Best place to send them is to me.
More next time!
Jonathan