My parents are in their 80s, and both are failing – my dad with Parkinson’s disease and my mother burnt out on caregiving. There’s a wonderful caregiving/home health service nearby that can help relieve the burden. Four or five hours a week would dramatically improve my parents’ lives. The problem: it costs $20/hour out of pocket. My parents can’t afford this.
The question: I have three siblings. Two of us have prospered in life and two of us are fine (happily married, nice kids), but drowning in debt. My husband and I fall in the second category. The affluent siblings think we all should share in this responsibility equally. The less-affluent think this isn’t fair. I know my parents wouldn’t want me to spend money I don’t have on them, and I also know that $20/hour means nothing to my brother and sister who are in the 1 percent. How should we handle this? Right now, my sister and I aren’t speaking.
— In Debt
