So I’m a 25 year old graduate student in Secondary Education, and I’m one semester away from student teaching. I can’t afford to pay for my final semester, which will probably cost around $5,000-$6,000. I live with my 95 year old grandfather. He is rather affluent, and I think I need to ask him for a loan at worst or a gift at best. How should I approach it in the least awkward way possible?
What will the rest of the family think of this? Does he have all his faculties or will someone later accuse you of coercing the money out of him? Does he let you live for free and support you in other ways? If the answer is no problem and he’s totally ‘with it’ there is nothing wrong with asking. Start with asking for a loan and see how it goes. Be totally honest= 100%. Say what you just said… that you are struggling to pay your last semester and will he loan you the money.
I live with him for free, but pay for my own food. Thanks for the advice.
Also, my grandad has no dementia (although he has the physical problems that you would expect a 95 year old man to have). Point is that I could explain the situation and he would understand me as long as I spoke slowly. I have three aunts but only one who I’m close with, because I lived with her for a year. I’ve thought about broaching the subject with her first.
It may not be a bad idea to talk to her first. At his age, he could have already given them power over his finances. Just be honest.
You’ve maxed out on student loans and your parents won’t co-sign?
If you’re a grad student, then why not get a Grad Plus loan?
Either way, it seems strange that a wealthy grandfather isn’t aware of your school-paying struggles. Have you been keeping them a secret?
It is possible someone else has a Power of Attorney (POA) for his finances. So even if he says yes, the POA person can say no. If you do get the loan, I would get it in writing. This is protect you and the rest of the family. If he dies, before you can repay the loan, you will owe the estate the money. It is possible you may have to repay the remainder all at once so the estate can be settled.
Gifting the money to you can cause hurt feeling among family members later. They may say it is ok now but when folks realize they lost out on $ opinions change.
Also, he may appear to you as being financially affluent. But his money may be paying for other things/people. Some people don’t have a pre-paid funeral plan. So there may money set aside for that.
Not wrong - it doesn’t hurt to ask. Of course, much depends on how wealthy he actually is, and your relationship with other potential heirs. Of course, if you have cousins who have previously asked him for help and were denied, I would ask your aunts for help broaching the subject with him.
My BFF’s older sister went to her wealthy great aunt for help with her senior year of undergrad - her aunt was glad to help and told her all she had to do was ask - said she was kind of sad that nobody asked her sooner. This may not be as hard as you fear.
You know your GF. If he’s the type who’d gladly help you, then ask him. If he’s of sound mind, then he may still have some/all control of his money. Sounds like he’s not in a state where he would’ve certainly given full control to someone else.
My mother is paying for my nephews kids (two great grand kids) private middle/high school education. Even though she is not well off and this take almost all of her discretionary income it makes her so happy to be able to help them my brother and sister and I are all for it. If it will make your GF happy to see you finish school please ask him.
I agree with the others, ask the living siblings (aunts) how they feel about this. I assume they would go along with GF giving you the money because you live with him and I assume are helping him with his daily life. Myself, I would approach them asking for GF to loan you the money hoping they end up giving you the money. And, as someone else mentioned do not be surprised if one of the Aunts has POA. My Father is 85 and my brother and I have POA and control of his bank account, although my Father can still write checks and withdraw money from his account. We are just able to find out about it and can put a stop to anyone taking advantage of him is necessary. We don’t care if he gives money to relatives or friends, so long as it doesn’t look like they are using him. It is his money.
Maybe a loan that you quickly pay back after graduation (i.e., 6 months) would work for you and your GF and extended family. As others have said he may ultimately gift it to you but all involved will respect that you went into it with the expectation to pay it back in full.