I (50M) make a very good income as a software developer. I came from a very poor background, had a rough start to my early adulthood years, so I consider myself self made and very prudent with my finances.

I work in a managerial position in a large company and make $200k a year. Add that to a good freelance client base and I make enough to provide for myself, my girlfriend (45F), and our daughter (17F).

However, because I came from so little and worked hard, I am prudent about my finances. I have developed strict financial values in that I believe you can be frugal and generous at the same time.

I felt like there was no need to marry. I loved my girlfriend and promised that if we broke up I would be generous and would give her a fair settlement which I'd determine at the time of breakup.

So the situation now is that I think my girlfriend is feeling empty nest anxiety. She is middle aged too, so a bit of a mid life lack of adjustment as well. Because our daughter is mildly autistic we felt it was best that my girlfriend quit her marketing job and become a SAHM. However, around 3 years ago my girlfriend became upset because I felt like I turned out so well because I really had to fight to be able to eat when I was in college. It made me value my education more. So my policy is that when my daughter goes to college next year, her schooling will be paid by loans and scholarships that she'll have to get for herself, and then I'd give her a total nest egg of $1,000 to use however she wanted for the duration of her four year college career.