The best things you can do for your parents run from free to expensive: be successful and happy, check in often, give small regular gifts, make peace in the family, fix their pain points, pay for postponed care, treat them to a trip, clear their debt and, with enough money, buy them a better home or retire them early. The script opens with a striking claim: by the time you are 19, you have already spent 95% of the time you will get with your parents in your lifetime. After that you build your own life and see them a couple of times a year.
Parents will say their kids owe them nothing, but most kids want their parents taken care of. The 15 ideas below are ordered from cheap or free to aspirational, and several are about this video’s own point that time and emotional effort come before money. The topic touches health, family conflict and end-of-life planning, so a human should review it before it goes live.
Watch the full video here, or skip to the breakdown below.
The 15 ideas at a glance, from cheap to expensive
- 1 to 3. Success, time and small comforts (0:52)
- 4 to 6. Peace, upgrades and postponed care (4:04)
- 7 to 9. Holiday, debt and the always-wanted gift (6:52)
- 10 to 12. Grandkids, legacy and longer life (9:55)
- 13 to 15. Plans, a better home and early retirement (12:31)
1 to 3. Success, time and small comforts
First, go be successful and happy. The script gives it levels. Do not be a burden or a reason to worry: stop relying on them for money and do what it takes to not depend on them. Be reliable and predictable, and find a good partner. If you can, be successful and happy so they can be proud and know they played a role. Seeing your kid do well is probably the greatest gift there is. Once they know you are okay, all they want is time.
Second, check in regularly and keep them updated. They will not bother you with their problems because they are too proud. You will not change much in the next ten years, but they will. Meet them in person, call twice as much as you do now and tell them what you are working on, since it makes them feel they are part of your life. The narrator does the math: take 80 as life expectancy, subtract their age, and multiply the years by how often you see them. Seeing them 2 extra times a year raises your remaining time with them by 66%, which it calls low effort and high reward.
Third, set up a $50 a month gift or subscription. Pay for streaming, give a magazine subscription, send two romance novels a month or a flower subscription, buy tickets or the pay-per-view fight your dad mentioned. It costs little, and you probably spend more on dumb stuff with less happiness in return.
Time is the cheapest gift, and the one with the highest return.
4 to 6. Peace, upgrades and postponed care
Fourth, make peace with the other parent or broker peace in the family. Most people have a favorite parent, and the other relationship may be less than ideal. As an adult, shoot for forgiveness and understanding, or at least move on. If you are not the affected party, be the peacemaker. When a parent and sibling are both too proud to admit fault, everyone loses. The author says long-term positives should outweigh personal pride and not to let your parents grow old and bitter. It adds that everything so far required more emotional intelligence than money.
Fifth, upgrade their infrastructure to relieve a pain. That can mean fixing their car, new AC units, solar panels, a hot tub or sauna, a new phone or TV, a bigger fridge, a washer-dryer or a home security system they could not set up themselves. This has much more impact than a small gadget they will never use. Look for the one thing that has bugged you for years.
Sixth, pay for the medical intervention they have been postponing. The examples in the script are laser eye surgery, new teeth, mole removal or functional rhinoplasty so they can breathe properly. It says you have no idea how much this affects their self-esteem and well-being. It also warns to check references for any clinic abroad.
Fix the thing that bugs them every time you visit.
7 to 9. Holiday, debt and the always-wanted gift
Seventh, give them a once-in-a-lifetime holiday and spoil them. Think about how much your mother sacrificed and how rarely she took a real holiday. Let them see the pyramids or take a world cruise while their health holds. Take them to a restaurant or stores they would never choose themselves. The script’s team does a yearly trip for 12 to 15 relatives plus kids, renting a great Airbnb in a beautiful location for at least a week, and calls it a net positive for everyone.
Eighth, pay off their debt. The host calls debt the thief of freedom and says to buy it back. You cannot imagine how it feels to wake up without that burden. Many parents have secret hobbies, such as dancing, painting, hiking or fishing, that they put on hold, and freeing them from debt lets them return to what makes them happy.
Ninth, get them the always-wanted gift. It is specific to each person, and you have likely heard the wish for decades, whether it is visiting a country, a boat, a classic car or seeing the World Cup live. Give it to them if you believe they are worth it.
Buy back their freedom, then fund the things they set aside.
10 to 12. Grandkids, legacy and longer life
Tenth, give them grandkids. Alux says grandparents involved in their grandkids’ lives live up to 5 years longer than the rest. It gives them purpose, a reason to keep their health and mental sharpness, and a second chance to watch a child grow up with experience and fewer pressures. You remain the parent, and they get to go on the ride with you.
Eleventh, make sure their legacy lives on. Legacy has three parts. The biological part is the bloodline continuing. The individual part is their thoughts, ideas, lessons and creative contribution, which you can keep by recording a podcast together, filming everyday life, having them answer questions in a journal or helping publish a book. The environmental part is bettering their birthplace, such as helping rehabilitate a school or church or adding benches in a park.
Twelfth, extend their life with money. Technology moves fast, so use it. A nutritionist, private chef or weight loss specialist can help, and better doctors, tests and earlier treatments do a lot. The presenter puts it this way: money cannot buy time, but it can delay the inevitable if used right. Help them learn what a modern healthy lifestyle is and make it fit their reality.
Money cannot buy time, but it can delay the inevitable if used right.
13 to 15. Plans, a better home and early retirement
Thirteenth, settle everything before you have to: wills, successions and a dignified death. The team admits it is uncomfortable but says it gives parents peace of mind. It is better to draw clear lines while everyone is mentally sharp, since these situations have historically caused bad blood between siblings. Bring it into the light, and keep in mind items of emotional value. A saying in Eastern Europe and South America is that your parents’ home is not for sale, since revisiting your roots is a piece of your identity.
Fourteenth, buy them a better home. That does not have to mean bigger. It could mean living closer to you, in a safer place or one nearer their interests, or moving from an apartment to a house with a garden. Some parents want to raise chickens and grow their own food, and the script says to give them the luxury of seeing it happen.
Fifteenth, retire them ahead of time. Most retirees fear their money will not last, so work out their yearly cost of living, including medical bills. The narrator assumes you hold enough income-generating assets, such as multi-family or commercial real estate that cash-flows well, to support their retirement indefinitely. With inflation, it says most of their generation cannot rely on a pension or savings, and the grocery basket has doubled in five years.
Ask which of these your parents deserve most, and aim there.
Bonus: your role changes as your circle widens
The bonus idea is that your role changes as your circle expands. The author suggests figuring out what role you want to play in the circle you are in, then living like that.
It also says that if you want to achieve items later on the list, like retiring your parents or paying off their debt, you should take your financial education seriously. Hopefully most of you will make your parents proud.
FAQ
What can you do for your parents once you are rich?
The video lists 15, from free ones such as being successful and checking in often to paying for regular gifts, medical care, a dream holiday, debt relief, a better home and early retirement.
How much of your life do you spend with your parents?
The video says that by age 19 you have already spent 95% of the time you will get with your parents in your lifetime.
How can you spend more time with your parents?
Meet them in person, call about twice as often as you do now and share what you are working on. The video says two extra visits a year raises your remaining time with them by 66%, assuming three visits a year.
Why pay off your parents’ debt?
The video calls debt the thief of freedom. Paying it off removes a burden and gives parents the chance to return to hobbies they put on hold.
Why settle wills and succession early?
The video says it gives parents peace of mind and avoids bad blood between siblings, and it is better done while everyone is mentally sharp.
Keep reading
- Christmas Gift Ideas For Parents
- Gift Ideas For Rich People
- 15 Lessons Rich Parents Teach Their Kids That the Poor Don’t
