WSJ: Are you a Parent to a Helicopter Parent that Goes to Work with Their Child?

My Desk...no advice from me! I know where I belong.

The big topic of conversation over at Generation Fabulous Midlife Bloggers is an article that is being featured online by the Wall Street Journal. Should You Bring Mom and Dad to the Office? is all about how large companies are encouraging involvement by the parents of their college interns. They arrange social occasions and are even sending notes to Helicopter Parents about their child's progress as an intern. This is a concept that most of us that are little older have never even considered.

Companies like Northwest Mutual are encouraging parents to take part in open houses to see what their college aged interns are doing. The companies that are pushing this are seeing a difference in the way Millennials are growing up and have seen an improvement in the performance of their interns since implementing the ideas.

It seems that children born after 1980 are different that say those born in 1971. How so you ask? Well according to the Wall Street Journal's sources, children born between 1981 and 2000 are closer to their parents. In the eyes of the employer it follows that the parents can be an important ally when it comes to hiring and keeping the most talents prospects.

The Generation Fabulous ladies are not buying it...not at all. They are still working themselves and really need for their children to grow and hopefully, not boomerang on them. But go to work with them to negotiate salaries or open houses to view their child's progress? Nope...they not only don't think it is a good idea, they flat out don't want to do that. I not only wouldn't want to I would not even know what to do if I did.

But...what if you as a parent are very experience, perhaps even just a little wise and your child asked you to be a second set of eyes and ears at a very important time in their life, would you make it work? It could be. Common sense tells us that the more you know the better you become. And adult children can still want to hear from their parents. Another fact of life is that employers can and will take advantage of inexperienced employees/our adult children.

So what do you think? If you are a grandparent, would you have some very good advice for  your adult children with Millennials of their own?

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I invite you to read post Galen Pearl wrote for 10 Steps to Finding Your Happy Place called Clean Towels. It is very relevant to this post.

Retirement: Don't Count on Me (Your Parents)...I am NOT a retirement plan!

Okay here is the deal...I am retired and have been for 15+ years. My husband and I are doing just fine. Our health is good (sorta), we are financially sound, have very good insurance and a successful loving family. Yup...we are doing juuuuuusssst fine!

But if my children are counting on what they inherit from us for their retirement, that will not work. The average amount most parents plan on leaving for their family is around $100,000.  That would work out to $33,000 per child in my family.  We are not dying anytime soon so who knows what will be left in the end. But even if we were average, you cannot retire with only $33,000 in your retirement plan. It will not work.  In an article in the Wall Street Journal the advise was don't count on money from the parents:

For years now, there's been a lot of talk about boomers getting tremendous windfalls as their parents pass on. Many boomers, in fact, have been lagging behind in their savings, betting on—hoping for—big bequests, especially since many of them suffered big losses in 2008. WSJ, June 11, 2012

As it turns out, we parents suffered a hit too in 2008.  We are living longer so our children won't be getting the inheritance in time to make hay from what they may receive. It is not looking good for you if your are thinking that we (the parents) are going to leave you set for retirement. So I am here to say you cannot count on us. 

Just a thought!

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Link:  When Your Retirement Plan Depends on Your Parents Dying,  Graceful Retirement

Computer Electronics Show and the Senior Citizen

Could it be that our laptops and personal computers are a thing of the past?  I have been using an Apple personal computer since the first model appeared all those many years ago.  I thought the laptop was a giant leap forward but did not see it as a replacement for my personal computer. Now the Wall Street Journal and all those people that know about trends are saying Bye, Bye Laptops and PCs.  Everything I use will be replaced with something entirely different according to them.  This is what they had to say:

As inflection points go, the Consumer Electronics Show that kicked off yesterday couldn't be sending a clearer signal: The era of the personal computer is drawing to a close. For an industry gathering that once showcased each new generation of desktop and laptop, this year's show is buzzing with every imaginable flavor of tablet, smart phone and mobile appliance. Welcome to the age of mobile computing. Wall Street Journal 

When I see something like this, I am always wondering how this will affect me and what I buy in the future.  The implications of the WSJ statement caused me to pause.

I am a senior citizen (69) that lives half of the year in Oregon and the other half in Arizona.  My technology needs are driven by my age, location, avocation (writing) and cost.  I have not jumped on board with the ipad....yet. When the device came out initially last spring, I could not see how it would work for me.  I had enough problems with my iphone keypad that I was a little leery.  I was not aware of the keypad dock at the time.  Now I know a new shift in the way we use technology is at hand.

The WSJ article talked about why we won't be buying laptop and will be going to the ipad type device instead.  According to the author we will be docking our ipads to a keyboard (ipad Keyboard Dock) and using external or Internet storage for data.  By doing that sort of thing, we have ended the fear of a crashed computer, gotten rid of the big tower or even a hard drive in our laptop and taken a load out of our brief cases or backpacks. For the senior citizen the ipad concept will be a real winner.  The kindle application, for example, allows the senior citizen to read with enlarged font  The touch screen is not only easy to use but can reduce the keyboarding necessary to arrive at the online destination.  Even my iphone does this for me!

The new data from Pews Research group says that 59% of the populations now uses their phones for online use. That is up from 25% only one year ago. It is hard for me to think of a time when I did not have access to the internet 24/7.  It has become such a way of life for me.  In fact in this day and age where seniors want to keep in close contact with family, the smart phones can be a link to busy children.  I don't worry about carrying a camera with me anymore.  My iphone camera takes such high quality photos I really don't find it necessary.  I had not thought of my use as particularly trendy but it seems it is.

Apple TV has been around for quite a while now.  I had never really paid much attention to it.  Then our son and his family gave us one for Christmas. We could not wait to get it set up and begin using it.  This device allows us to connect online with my flickr account as well as use Netflix and rent movies.  It replaces payper view TV totally (at least for me) and I think will reduce our cable costs eventually.
In the past in order to use Netflix you would sign up and have the movies sent to your house.  My daughter's family began using Netflix online through their children's Xbox setup.  I don't have an Xbox and don't even want one.  It is nice to have the Apple TV that includes the Netflix application as well as an interface between my computer that will allow me to stream photo slide shows and music through our amp.  At home in Oregon this will give us the full benefit of a surround sound system.  Really, for this senior citizen, it was a perfect gift.

So what are the new and not so new technologies that I love?  Here we go:

• The Amazon Kindle reader is old and yet so new to me.  I love the world that it has opened for me.  My age makes is a must have.
• Apple TV...great for the senior citizen that wants to have the advantages of a computer that connects to their TV.  Reducing cost is a good thing!
• The ipad and some of the peripheral tools that can be added...I don't own this one yet but it is definitely on the list of good stuff!  Location will not be important anymore!  I think I will probably be using it for writing too. 
• My iphone, its camera's, map/search/gps function, online possibilities, etc.

Technology has become a necessity on our lives. Seniors are going to find it more and more useful as time goes on. The trick is to find the right things that will keep them ahead of the trends. It is worth doing the research now to avoid the mistakes later. Welcome to the age of mobile computing!

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Related articles

• Remote support to seniors citizens by senior citizens (computerknowledge1.blogspot.com)
• CES: Has ASUS discovered the strategy to take down the iPad? (zdnet.com)
• It's the year of the tablet at CES (canada.com)