The Rodriguez family is a multigenerational household living in a small town near San Jose, California. Maria Rodriguez, 60 years old, lives with her husband Dean, 75; her mother, Regina, 83; and her two sons, Martin, 36, and Daniel, 34. (Names and details have been changed to protect the participants.) The Rodriguez’ enjoy a measure of financial health and security. Maria and her husband, Dean, will soon have the first mortgage paid off on their four-bedroom, two-bathroom house. Buttressed by regular payments from Social Security and other federal benefits, the five members of the household bring in multiple sources of income that exceed their day-to-day expenses – and are also enough to pay off debts accumulated from credit card spending and a large home equity line of credit. Maria has put aside a modest amount of savings for her retirement; and she also holds two life insurance policies valued at $250,000 each. Meanwhile, Daniel is saving for the down payment for a house of his own.
Read about the Rodriguez family in the full case study.
