You are neither too young, nor too old. Your children’s higher education is just a few years away. Your old parents increasingly need support, not just medical and emotional but sometimes financial. Plus you are either repaying a loan or two, and are also trying to save something for your own retirement, which in this era, may happen much before you hit 60.
As overwhelming as this sounds, it is a classic sandwich generation squeeze. The phrase ‘Sandwich Generation’ is often used to describe a growing demographic group that needs to take care of both young children and elderly parents. Not just financially, but emotionally and psychologically too. And increasingly, this is becoming the default state for a large chunk of India’s middle-aged group.
Sadly, most advice on handling this life phase is either too vague or too guilt-driven (like family-comes-first). Here is one way to think about it. Not perfect, but one which tries to make this intense phase of life, a little less exhausting.
