3 Ways Gen Xers Can Start Tough Chats with Boomer Parents

Even if you’re a Gen Xer and your parents are younger baby boomers who are healthy and fit, it’s not too early to start talking with them about their future.

You can start addressing some of the more challenging topics – finances, housing, and health directives – to get a feel for your parents’ plans and thinking.

Weaving them into conversations early and making them natural discussion topics can lay the groundwork for later when you need to have more in-depth decision-focused discussions.

Rather than always relying on direct questions, bring up some of your own concerns and how you’re handling them. Your parents then may share advice and reveal some of their own struggles and decisions.

Here are three starting points:

1. Joe and I just did our will and health directives. What a process. No one likes to think about that stuff, and it feels like we’re too young, but my friend Lily’s partner just died suddenly, and it was kind of an eye-opener for me. It really forces you to think about what you really want and make decisions.
2. I decided to renovate the house and, crazy as it sounds, I’m actually thinking about putting in some aging-in-place features. Just in case. I’m young and all, but I may want to stay there forever. I figure, why to go through a renovation twice.
3. Joe and I have talked about it for years, but we finally went to a financial planner. We’re good savers, but I was still nervous about whether we’d done enough. The planner suggested some changes and now I feel kind of relieved. Have you ever done it, or do you feel like your finances are on track?