I went to a cousin's memorial service a few days ago. He was in his early fifties and died of cancer. He was an only child and actually never grew up. His father died when he was quite small, and I think his mother wanted to make up for that death for the rest of her life. Looking back on Mr. L's life, he was always bailed out financially by his mom and others. He was a very handsome and charming man and used those attributes to his advantage. But his love affair with the bottle superceded any desire to work or get ahead. His mom's guilt had her sneaking money to him on the sly so her DH would not know about it. I even heard that L and his GF built up debts to the tune of $25K in about 6 months on "fun and frolic." Mom bailed him out that time, too. His mom was weak but before she died she established a trust fund for L so that he would get a lump sum inheritance. Smartest thing she ever did! He railed against everyone in attempts to get extra cash from the trust. He did not succeed; however, several relatives (including my Mom and Dad) gave him small amounts of money because they "felt sorry for him."

Well.....what does this have to do with finances? To me, the moral of the story is this: Give your children a sense of responsibility about money. If they do not listen, then do not bail them out! Some must attend the "School of Hard Knocks" before they learn anything.