Before sitting down with your family, be sure to think through the practical details of your request: How much money are you looking for, and what will it be used for? You\u2019ll need to be able to answer these questions and be willing to share details with your family in order to have a productive discussion. \u201cIt shows your intentionality in that you\u2019re not just asking for help without thought,\u201d Melkumian says. \u201cYou\u2019re being respectful of the conversation and appreciating the other person\u2019s consideration.\u201d<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re specific in your ask, it avoids putting your family member in an awkward position. You don\u2019t want them to have to guess what you need and throw out an arbitrary number. It also gives them an opportunity to offer an alternate amount of money that they\u2019re more comfortable with.<\/p>\n

BE OPEN TO MULTIPLE SOLUTIONS<\/h3>\n

While you should be specific in your ask, it\u2019s just as important to be open to different ways your family might be able to help. \u201cI would recommend talking through at least three different scenarios,\u201d Melkumian says, including:<\/p>\n

\n
• A loan that\u2019s expected to be repaid in a set amount of time, with interest<\/li>\n
• An interest-free loan that\u2019s expected to be repaid in a set amount of time<\/li>\n
• A gift that isn\u2019t expected to be repaid<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

  Of course, if your family member has other ideas, discuss what would make them feel most comfortable. \u201cIn the end, while money is important, family is more important,\u201d Melkumian says.<\/p>\n

  Ultimately, when asking your family for financial help, be appreciative of their consideration. \u201cRemember that you\u2019re giving the other person the opportunity to be helpful,\u201d Melkumian says. \u201cSometimes the reverse-psychology technique is comforting, too. If your sister came to you in need of help, would you help her? Many of my clients say, \u2018Absolutely.\u2019 And that gives them some peace to go ahead and ask.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Asking for help isn\u2019t always easy, but if your request happens to involve money, that can add another layer of emotional difficulty. \u201cSome people endure a lot of pain and suffering before raising their hand and saying, \u2018I need help,\u2019\u201d says financial psychotherapist Alex Melkumian. \u201cThis can be especially true when it comes to money, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1702,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1701","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-media","8":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/financialpsychologycenter.com.previewc40.carrierzone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/1429-how-do-i-ask-my-family-for-financial-help-Feature-Img-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/financialpsychologycenter.com.previewc40.carrierzone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/financialpsychologycenter.com.previewc40.carrierzone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/financialpsychologycenter.com.previewc40.carrierzone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/financialpsychologycenter.com.previewc40.carrierzone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/financialpsychologycenter.com.previewc40.carrierzone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1701"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/financialpsychologycenter.com.previewc40.carrierzone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1701\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1705,"href":"http:\/\/financialpsychologycenter.com.previewc40.carrierzone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1701\/revisions\/1705"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/financialpsychologycenter.com.previewc40.carrierzone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/financialpsychologycenter.com.previewc40.carrierzone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/financialpsychologycenter.com.previewc40.carrierzone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/financialpsychologycenter.com.previewc40.carrierzone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}