“They have a lot of expenses that I don’t feel like, but if I say something about it, it becomes my problem,” she said. “So I leave it to them to budget from that money.”
Joy Cho, 43, is Thai. Her parents came to the United States in 1975 with little money, but managed to connect with partners who helped them open a Thai restaurant in Philadelphia. Ms. Cho, the founder of a lifestyle brand, Oh Joy!, said her parents didn’t explicitly expect her to support them, but she knew it was something she wanted to do.
“They worked so hard and did everything they could for me so that I could go to college and be on the path I am now and start a family of my own,” she said. “For me to be able to help take care of them now at this stage of life is the least I can do.”
Ms. Cho’s husband is Korean and he came from an upbringing, she said, where expectations were more traditional. He gave his parents his first paycheck after he completed his medical school and a long residency.
In addition to helping both parents with monthly bills such as phone plans and rent, Ms. Cho and her husband keep a close eye on some of their other needs. For example, when they noticed that Mrs. Cho’s father was driving a car that he was having problems with, they bought him a new one. They also saw Mrs. Cho’s father wiretap a ten-year-old television to get it to work, and despite his protestations that it was fine, they replaced it.
‘A team effort’
Having siblings who can help makes it easier to make sure our parents’ financial needs are met. I have two brothers who work in the food and service industry and don’t earn as much as I do, but they contribute money when they can. Since they live in California and I don’t, they help in invaluable ways by running errands for our parents and taking them to doctor’s appointments.
“It’s a team effort,” Ms. Truong said. Her parents suffer from health problems and live with Mrs. Truong’s sister and her family. Her sister works in the medical field and translates all their medical papers for them.
