How much money do you send to your relatives? Are you obligated to support your parents, siblings, uncles, and aunties? While opinion is divided, as your parents grow older they may look up to you for financial support. This can however put a strain both financially and mentally.
Regardless of our financial status, some hold we are obliged to cater to the needs of our aging parents, from footing their medical bills to financing their daily lifestyle.
This has, in turn, led to some negotiating their dreams such as buying homes, having children, and saving money for retirement among others.
But, did you know that with a good investment plan you are able to smartly support your parents without going broke?
Inua Jamii
Churchill Ogutu a financial expert at IC bank states that if your parents are not employed or they do not earn a pension, you should consider enrolling them under the inua jamii program issued by the government. The program gives Ksh2,000 monthly stipend to the elderly as long as they are above 70 years.
With the stipend, they are able to cater for less expensive items such as foodstuffs.
Funeral Insurance
Funerals are very expensive, from the planning to the after activities, which is likely to put a heavy financial strain on a person. According to a survey conducted by the Association of Kenya Insurers, Kenyans spend an average of Ksh50,000 and Ksh 300,000 on funeral expenses with the least being Ksh 10,000 for a departed loved one who passed away and was buried within 24 hours.
In a case where the deceased passed on while receiving treatment, it ranges between Ksh400,000 and Ksh2 million. Insurers provide funeral plans that cater for expenses such as the cost of caskets, hearse, flowers, funeral programs, and refreshments during burials.
The funeral covers allow you to include your parents, parents in law and all members of your family depending on the insurer for as little as Ksh250 per month.
Health Insurance
As people age, their immunity tends to go down, exposing them to high risks of infection and diseases. Medical conditions which advance through time can develop into serious conditions which may become very expensive such that one may not afford, thus becoming a financial burden.
You could support your aging parents by paying for policy covers tailored for the elderly which go for as low as Ksh500 per month for the case of The National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF). The covers cater for medical prescriptions, hospitalization, and physiotherapy.
Other extra insurance covers cater for surgeries and medication in foreign countries.
Similarly, you could enroll them under the NHIF cover which can be paid at once.
