When Do You Stop Paying For Your Children

Hi,

Following a discussion with AllyG, I noticed I am still paying for my eldest child to come skiing with us. :oops:

He is 19 and at Uni.
Question
At what age do you think I should stop paying for him.

I am going for 19 :D

I am still paying for my middle daughter, she is at Uni so seems fair. Luckily she is going with her Uni so it half the price of my February trip!! I would guess until they finish education. Eldest daughter earns twice what I do so she is paying for herself and son (17) is being paid for by us too. I hope they remember this when they are choosing my nursing home.

Depends on your financial circumstances really, can you afford it? Can he afford it? How much does he contribute to the trip?(I mean is he fun to have around/helps with siblings/share the driving/clean up if self catering?)
At quite a young age I was encouraged to save for holidays from my pocket money to pay for ice cream, then, when I started work I had to start paying for everything other than travel/accom, it wasn't until I had finished education that I was expected to pay toward the actual travel/accom.
My family was not well off, most holidays were either the Pontins/caravan park/staying with relations variety. We couldn't afford holidays abroad until my sister and I could pay our own way.
I don't think there is a right age, now my sister and I take and pay for my mum to come away with us as she is retired, perhaps your son will do the same for you when he finishes uni?
19 is certainly not unreasonable! :D

This has to be a trick question ......

The answer has to be "never stop praying for them" and as they get older the prayer is amended (if originally and principaly praying for them to come ski with you)to include the request "... that they pay for the trip."

Mike :roll:

ohhhhhh ... P A Y I N G !! :lol: ... thought you said P R A Y I N G for them. :roll: :roll: It has been a long day here !! :oops:

Snowy,
I've got a very simple rule for this. If my daughter comes with me then I will pay. If she goes ski-ing with someone else she pays. She's 19 as well, and at uni, and she has enough money - scholarship, grant, student loan - to ski on the cheap with the uni if she saves carefully during the rest of the year.

Plus, I have thought about this, and if she has to save up at uni she's likely to drink (alcohol I mean) less, which will be good for both her liver and her studies :lol:

It all depends on whether you really want to ski with them, or just assuage your guilt at leaving them behind. It also depends on how much they want to ski with you - put their money where their mouth is, to put it crudely.

I would say,they should at least have some money vested in a family ski holiday.

Hi

Matthew being 19 tends to drink quite a lot which tends to leave me out of pocket and suffering from a hang over. He skis far better than I can, and he is funny, (not jealous really) . :roll:

We go with friends who also take their 19 year old and the both of them seem to have good fun and occasionally feel sorry for us and ski with the group (always at lunch time and just before we go to the pub), just to so how much better they are than us. His younger brother is following in his foot steps. :?:

He did manage to afford to go with his girlfriend on holiday in the summer. (how)

Taking the comments on board, family holiday all together great fun, how much longer will it last who knows, as long as I can afford it, yes we will pay.

Our two are in their early thirties with mortgages, so we like to help them out by treating them to the ski pass. We are lucky as both their partners ski/board too so it is a great family holiday that we can all enjoy. If we happen to book a real bargain though, we book and pay for the holiday but then they will pay for their own passes. We all pay our own way when it comes to eating out/drinks though. To our children's credit however the only way they accept any of this is if our 'treat' is actually their birthday and/or Christmas present.

We don't have to do any of this and they certainly don't ask or expect it of us, but we like to offer.

We also found that once we no longer had to ski during school holidays and could go off at very short notice with bargain late deals, we were spending less for six people than it used to cost us for four, especially when we were all still having lessons, equipment hire etc.