My parents

Today is Mother's day. I went home and spent the day with my family. It was a long overdue visit!

We had a talk about finances. I know my parents are in bad financial shape. I've been anxious to find out if they are saving any for the future.

It turns out....it's not quite as bad as I had pictured. My dad has a pension from a previous job. There is, of course, social security, but my parents are on the young end of the baby boomers. I tried to let them know this means their social security could be less than it says it will be now.

They spoke of the desire to open a savings account. Also, my mom showed me that she has just recently started contributing to her 401K. 2% is a start....it's better than 0%! I talked to her about upping the contribution another % every few months.

Overall, it was a better conversation than I had expected. I know this still seems bad, but it is more progress than I thought. I wish them the best and will try to keep prodding them.