Breathe

For a long time, I found myself stuck in survival mode as a parent. I was determined to make all the right decisions, give my daughter opportunities I never had, and be present for every activity and milestone. It was a constant push to do it all, and I barely stopped to breathe.

But then, everything changed when I became anEempty Nester. For the first time in what felt like forever, I took a deep breath—really took one. It was as if I’d been holding my breath for years. In that moment, I realized just how fast I’d been moving, almost like I was hyperventilating through life. Slowly, I began to exhale—not just physically, but emotionally, too. Letting go of survival mode felt like releasing a weight I didn’t even know I was carrying.

Now, as an Empty Nester and a coach to my young adult, I’ve discovered a new way to parent. It’s not without its challenges, but it’s different. Decisions aren’t solely mine to make anymore, and that shift has brought a sense of peace. Coaching my daughter as she navigates her own path has given me the space to breathe deeply, to trust her journey, and to find balance in my own.

Building Generational Wealth

One thing I did when my daughter went to school, was renovate my basement.  My goal was to generate another stream of income, increase my property value and help someone have a safe affordable place to live.  At the time, I was not thinking I was building generational wealth.  The renovated basement is now a safe affordable place for my daughter to reside as she has completed her degree and is back home.   Although I haven’t looked at the cost of apartments in years, I know that that the cost is extreme to me.  Rent is more than I pay for a mortgage.  I remember paying $700 per month with all utilities included in 1999 when I had my daughter (and that may be high as I can’t really remember).  My apartment also had a washer and dryer.  According to https://ipropertymanagement.com/research/average-rent-by-year the apartment rentals increased 8.85 percent since 1980. 

 My daughter is back home, she was blessed to find a job after completing college, she has been able to continue her independence by residing in the studio apartment.  One of the things I say to parents is to establish boundaries; I will write about that later.  However, for now, I will share that my daughter does pay rent.  Staying with the theme of building generational wealth; the plan is to yes use some of the rent for the household but also save a portion of the rent to gift to her when she decides to move out of our home.  Sssshhh, she doesn’t know that part.  My hope is that she stays in our home as long as possible, continue her educational goals and save money.   My hope is that when she decides to move that she is ready to purchase property.  If I save $250 per month of the rent, she pays over 12 months will be $3,000. If I take that money and put it in a high yielding account, her money will make money.  At minimum at $3,000 over 3 years will provide $9,000 not taking into consideration the dividends from the high yielding account.  Disclaimer, I am not a financial expert, please consult someone or do your own research. I am sure I don’t have to convince you how making my basement into a studio apartment is helping my family build generational wealth, so if you can consider the option. 

I do know that everyone may not be able to do the same thing I have to build generational wealth, there are other ways to build wealth.  Some other things to explore are investing, real estate, opening a business, life insurance, protecting assets by setting up a trust and have a will, which are some ideas.

Blog Post Title One

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