Someone asked why some people complain about the expense of buying personal finance books, not understanding its an investment. I believe that’s precisely it; it’s an investment and most people aren’t geared towards thinking about investments vs expenses. I might even argue that Rich Dad, Poor Dad is about getting you to think about investments rather than expenses.

To the above commenter about family members who are irresponsible and immature (I don’t mean this in an insulting way–they lack responsibility for themselves and are lacking the maturity to be responsible), you can try reading It Pays to Talk, its about talking to your family about money. It may not have the answer you’re looking for (I haven’t read it) but it comes highly recommended from The Simple Dollar. I’m facing this problem myself and I firmly believe that you should let them crash and burn, as long as they’re able to work. They’ll figure it out eventually. I’ve been on both sides of this, and I firmly believe my crashing-and-burning period was very, very important to becoming the man I am today, and who I will be tomorrow. In fact, I didn’t shape up until it hit me: I am the only one responsible for me life. I have no safety net and no one to blame if I’m not where I want to be in ten years. Realizing that it was all upto me was very important in my development. It’s hard to be firm, especially with the kinds of things family can do to try to persuade you, but sometimes you have to do something that’s hard in the short term but will improve things in the long run. You may want to write a letter and tell your family your decision if its too hard to do otherwise.

My question is actually related to that: what if you do have family members that won’t save themselves, and you know that you’ll eventually be financially responsible for them? (Yeah, they’ve already read several Suze Orman books, not helping…)

Right now, the best thing I can do is put aside as much money as I can, thinking of them as additional children to support eventually. Do you have any thoughts?