<prompt> Human: I am coming to the realization that in the future I will likely be supporting my parents and it is freaking me out.Backstory on me: I am 36 with a great husband and 2 teenagers. Me and my husband have great careers and are financially secure. We are very good with our money and have done a good job planning for our families future. My parents: They have struggled my whole life with money and have never been good with their money. They are getting older and are not prepared for the future. Things seem to be getting worse for them financially. They have gotten desperate recently and against my advice pulled money out of their retirement to stay afloat. They seem to have gotten things back on track but still living pay check to pay check like usual. Not like they have a lot of options but still what I would consider irresponsible with the little money they do have. Now my fear is that due to their poor decisions and lack of planning I will end up taking care of them. Please understand Im not trying to sound like some kind of entitled bratty child. Its just that my family has worked very hard to put ourselves in a good position. It frustrating to realize that their bad choices and lack of planning is likely to be my familys problem.Figured Im not the only one who has been in this situation and maybe someone would have some advice. Assistant: I have a friend facing this very dilemma. Her parents have treated her well but have continued to live for today despite facing retirement; this has included 4 annual, international holidays.In the end she reasoned;She could help her parents live a comfortable live to the detriment of her childrens education.Or she could help her children first and financially, and aid her parents through time. She opted for the latter. Finances, she reasoned, were very much about helping the family unit but much more in a forward looking manner. Better to put children on their own two feet.Human: That has been my thinking and I agree that my main focus has been to make sure my kids are good and that we are good so they are not in this situation. I should be able to care for my parents as well and find myself considering this when making our financial decisions. I dont want to put ourselves in a bad situation if my parents do end up needing us to support them.  <response>: You have every right to set the rules of the road the way you see fit. Im in the same situation as you. My MIL is a poor financial planner, and when given numerous chances to improve her situation she chose the easy way instead of the right path.So Ive let her know, if you ever want to retire with us, you need to do a couple things to make it easier. Namely not supporting her loser son rent free, and having a savings plan so she can weather emergencies. So far she has chosen to do none of those.Give your parents a clear path, do x, y, z and there will be a place for you. The choice is theirs what they do with it. 