People will happily talk to friends about dating disasters, sexual disasters, embarrassing moments and that weird thing that happened when they were in the changing room at Nordstrom. But what they rarely talk about is money.
I never knew that there was a special tax exemption on financial gifts to adult children, so you can give them $18,000 a year, every year, without incurring tax implications. But I certainly learnt about it in New York. I did know that a lot of my TriBeCa friends and clients were definitely getting help from family, especially when it came to their or their children's school fees.
So if you are struggling with money and wondering how your friends are making it better than you, don't beat yourself up, just know that they are getting family help.
And I'm not judging or being mean about family money. A safety net is a glorious thing. You can make better decisions, have better choices, and have some breathing space with a good safety net. It's just sometimes, if you don't have that safety net, you can wonder what it is you are doing wrong. I'm here to tell you that you are doing nothing wrong. Everyone has their path, some people have it easier in one respect, others have it easier in another. But no one has a completely easy path. So don't let yourself get overwhelmed by what other people do or do not have (so easy to do in a city like New York.) And try to see where you have it easy, so you can have some gratitude around it (a healthy body, a curious mind, some grounded friends, a loving companion - animal or human.) Everything is easier with genuine gratitude.
