Comments on: Family Money Mangement – Helping Friends And Family In Financial Trouble

By: Monroe on a Budget » Frugal money blog roundup March 18

Monroe on a Budget » Frugal money blog roundup March 18 — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 14:42:35 +0000

[...] Little by Little presents Family money management – helping friends and family in financial trouble. (Don’t give, loan or co-sign for a friend or relative any money that you can’t afford [...]

By: Weekly Round Up-Shrimp Pasta Edition | Good Financial Cents

Weekly Round Up-Shrimp Pasta Edition | Good Financial Cents — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 20:24:21 +0000

[...] Helping Friends And Family In Financial Trouble at Gather Little By Little [...]

By: Personal Checks Unlimited

Personal Checks Unlimited — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 15:51:53 +0000

I have to agree with it being a gift. This should be settled firm in your mind beforehand. “Was it a gift, a loan, when this expected to be paid back?” Those are the internal questions that both parties go through, and usually that’s where there’s a “nasty outcome”. I believe it should also be taken into consideration, the person’s financial literacy you are lending to. Is this relative someone who has the knowledge to use the money in a way that will actually help their situation? Many people are in financial difficulty right now, but some were in it before this crunch because of a lack of knowledge and willingness. If this is the case usually help for them should be offered in a more beneficial way…my 3 cents anyway.

Alan

By: Weekly Round Up: Sister in Town

Weekly Round Up: Sister in Town — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 22:02:15 +0000

[...] Helping Friends And Family In Financial Trouble [...]

By: ammbd

ammbd — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 04:17:03 +0000

not an easy topic from either side. been on both.

no one wants to need help, or admit to needing help, or feel obligated, or shafted, or guilty.

took me forever to admit needed help then longer to ask but lucky i have family who could help & didn’t use the help as a choke chain. when i can, i help back. sometimes we trade “services” or “goods”; sometimes we gift cash.

By: Ken

Ken — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 13:58:54 +0000

I like the type of comments you suggest to keep such a conversation from being too personal. I also must say not to loan out anything more than you could call a gift. I’m helping my brother out right now and it’s tough…especially on my marriage…my wife is “done with him” and I can’t blame her. It’s tough setting and enforcing boundaries with family. I’m like DFDD…this post should get lots of views considering the times we are in right now.

By: DDFD at DivorcedDadFrugalDad.com

DDFD at DivorcedDadFrugalDad.com — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 11:37:44 +0000

I am surprised there aren’t more comments on this topic– must be a taboo topic . . .

By: The Passive Dad

The Passive Dad — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 18:55:37 +0000

We have offered to help friends in non monetary ways including watching kids and offering a date night so they could talk finances. It can be frustrating to watch friends go through a crisis and sometimes non cash help can be beneficial to the couple.

If we did “lend” money it would be a gift and we wouldn’t expect to be paid back. I think it would strain the friendship if they never paid back the loan or if we saw them purchase non essentials with the money.

By: Neal Frankle

Neal Frankle — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 14:22:41 +0000

Ditto on the gift idea. I also think it would be a good idea to talk to the person about a repayment schedule if possible. Finally, why not reduce the agreement to writing? You can always rip up the agreement if you do end up gifting the money and it helps the person receiving the money because they’ll be less likely to consider this charity.

By: Miranda

Miranda — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 14:17:28 +0000

I agree with DDFD that it’s probably best to view this money as a gift – unless you are willing to go through what is necessary to make it a true loan with paperwork and an interest rate (and follow-up with a credit bureau). There are also microlending sites meant to help friends and family now, which make the loan more official, and can get more people involved.

I know that my husband and I were helped a lot when we first started out, and we have no qualms about providing gifts to our siblings and others who are in the situation we were in.