Worried as dividends and interest income reduced.

Regular readers know that I am a worrier.

Yes, it is true that I am somewhat mental.

As my parents are not financially savvy, I worry about them constantly.

This is one enduring worry which has only become worse over time.

I am more worried about my dad than I am about my mom because he spends money too freely.

There is no point in nagging at him which was something I was prone to doing in my younger days.

I remember when I told him to sell two of his club memberships away some 20 plus years ago, he got angry with me and yelled that he wanted a lifestyle in retirement.

Well, he is trapped into paying $500 each month in club subscriptions even though he hardly visits the clubs.

It is worse than buying insurance policies which he doesn't need because there is no way to terminate these memberships other than to sell them away.

Of course, club memberships are not as popular as they were once upon a time and it would be harder to sell them even if he wants to do so now.

If my dad regrets not listening to me donkey years ago, he hasn't told me.

All of us have pride which can be a good thing but it can also be a bad thing.

My dad is in his mid seventies and it is too hard for him to change his ways.






I blog about my parents from time to time.

The last time I did this was in October last year when I talked about how much passive income I needed?

In that blog, I talked about my decision to double financial support for my parents to about $40,000 a year.

With dividends from my investments reduced this year, I might have to dip into my emergency fund to keep the promise.

Of course, we would know for sure by the end of the year when I calculate my total dividends for the full year.

It is my responsibility to make sure that my parents don't have to worry about money.

If our government is right about the negative economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic lingering on for years to come, I must be prepared that I might have to continue dipping into my emergency fund as my dividend income falls short.






Adding to this development, lately, I have been wondering if I must give even more financial support to my parents?

This happened after a recent visit back home and a conversation I had with my parents.

My dad complained about the paltry interest rates when he renewed his fixed deposits.

Banks' shrinking interest rates on my dad's shrinking savings.

My dad complained about the former while my mom complained about the latter.

Uh oh.

I don't know if some of you might be familiar with such a scene or something similar to such a scene.

Well, as expected, in my case, it quickly escalated into a yelling competition.

When two people who have been married to each other for half a century fight, oh, they have so much material to draw on.

All that baggage.

I will not share the details.

Too much and, really, what's past is past.

Also, we have to accept that no one is perfect and if we cannot look past that and see the good in each other, life becomes almost unbearable.

Of course, when emotions run high, people become unreasonable but the problem is that they think they are reasonable.

OK, you get the picture.






Anyway, to help address my mom's complaint about my dad's shrinking savings and also to help address my dad's concern about shrinking interest income, I made my dad an offer.

I told my dad that at his age, it is about not taking on too much risk while trying to make his savings last longer.

I know he doesn't want to be reminded of the bigger financial support I am giving them.

Old man has pride.

Of course, as children, we should want our parents to age with dignity too.

So, I made him an offer that I felt he would respond well to.

I introduced him to AA REIT which, of course, I increased exposure to more than a month ago.

I took him through the pros and cons of the investment and offered to let him take over my recent investment in the REIT at $1.15 a unit which was what I paid.

I told him that, conservatively, it could give him a return of 7% per year at that price.

He took the offer and somehow managed to make it looked like he was helping me out.

Like I said, old man has pride and if it makes him feels good about himself, so be it.

That was how I partially diffused the tension that day.

Only partially but I shan't bore you with everything else.

家家有本难念的经.






If AA REIT's unit price should plunge below $1.15 for some reason and if my dad should decide to sell, I would still pay him $1.15 a unit.

So, his investment in AA REIT is like a risk free fixed deposit but with some upside.

I am sure I do not have the right answer to every problem.

I also do not have unlimited financial resources but I will always put my parents' interests before my own.

We are not perfect but this imperfect son will do his best for his imperfect parents.

This is as close to perfect as is humanly possible.






Related posts:
1. Improving retirement funding adequacy for my dad.
2. Retirement adequacy for late bloomers.
3. How much passive income do I need?
4. The most dangerous crisis and what should we do?
5. AIMS APAC REIT investment is larger now.
6. Dad's whole life insurance policy.