'I'm frustrated and also embarrassed': Daughter cuts off elderly parents who expect lifelong financial support after retiring with nothing saved

Traditionally, kids have been expected to take care of their aging parents once they've become seasoned adults. In some cultures, it's a nonnegotiable duty; while in others, it's framed as a natural exchange. Your parents raised you, so you eventually have to return the favor. 

At its best, it's an act of unconditional love, a reminder that family is supposed to catch you when life becomes too heavy. But in reality, that duty often becomes a financial and emotional burden. Caring for parents while also raising your own kids, paying a mortgage, and trying to build a retirement of your own can feel less like love and more like a lifelong bill you never signed up for.

But the question is, how far would you go? What happens when taking care of your parents stops looking like love and starts looking like you're an unpaid servant?

Author image for Isabella Penn Isabella Penn
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