<prompt> Human: in my extended family i seem to be the person who bears the burden of worrying about everyone. one of my biggest worries is the long term well being of my sister and nieces. my BIL and my sister have a seemingly great life - they have 3 beautiful daughters, he works at a good company and makes good money 70k skilled labor. they have nice things and drive nice cars. like i said, everything looks good on the outside. the truth is, its all a faccade. not only is he a financial idiot, but hes a finiancial SCUMBAG. he is on both welfare programs available in my state openly admits 100 fraud. he aquires phantom injuries at work, so he gets extended paid time off. he has moved my sister and nieces 6 times in 3 years because he stops paying rent to landlords. has zero savings, zero retirement and zero college funding for my nieces. i need help trying to convince him how these choices will affect them in the future. ive tried talking to him countless times, but he seems uninterested. he does listen, but its almost like he doesnt believe me. he believes that social security will be his retirement. he has no interest in college funds for my nieces - in fact, i tried nudging him by opening one for each kid and funding it every year on their birthday. to date, only my contributions are present. perhaps there is NOTHING i can do...but im willing to try anything.  <response>: My snap judgement: you probably wont be able to change his mind about any of this. My guess is that by telling you all of this, he is bragging, trying to demonstrate his financial savvy and when you explain why this is incredibly stupid it will just drive a wedge between you because you dont understand his plight. At some point he will be busted or the stress will lead your sister to leave him. The best thing you can do is help her prepare if that event should ever occur. Obviously, this is a delicate situation and should be discussed with your sister alone. It needs to be handled with tact, and she needs to be ready to listen. I would first make sure she understands: how dangerous this is if she doesnt already know. he could be thrown in jail, and if they are between houses and dont have enough cash on hand she and her children may be left out on the street except for maybe a good sibling that will lend a helping hand. This can lead to tragic consequences for the children, and while they may not understand exactly what is going on now, but they can always sense the stress and will eventually figure it out and start to model their behavior. if he is committing fraud on their tax returns and she files jointly she will likely be held accountable for his mistakes. When filing a joint return, both spouses are equally, jointly and individually liable for taxes, and if the IRS cannot get one, it goes after the other, and sometimes both at the same time. This could mean lasting consequences for her--even after divorce. she can even as a married couple have her own financial life. She can open her own account and stash money in the good months when they are flush with cash. If she is concerned about the statements and the hubby finding out, open the account in your name and give her access through an atm card. I would also recommend hiding some cash outside of a bank where hubby wont find it but still gives her quick access when she needs it most. how to remove herself from his credit issues and develop a better credit history for herself. Cash savings will only get you so far in this world and she needs to protect herself by separating her credit history. This means removing him from her credit cards, not co-signing on loans, making her credit card payments on time and not signing on a lease with a landlord they plan to run out on. While it is great that you care enough to help out your sister, realize too that it is her life. You can provide her the resources and emotional support to make the change, but she is the only one that can make the change. 