How Supporting Adult Children Financially Can Ruin Your Retirement | When To Stop Allowance

The ability to be generous is one of the retirement season’s great joys. What starts as generosity, however, may make an unfortunate turn with an unexpected financial and emotional cost.

In my recent money and happiness survey of nearly 2,000 retirees nationally, I found that over 40% are giving their adult children some level of financial support. This doesn’t include children with special needs, of course, or the occasional gift of Disneyland tickets and some extra Christmas cash. It means support from parents to subsidize the everyday life – private schools, car leases, rent, mortgages, paying down debt, etc – because the kids can’t afford the lifestyles they keep.

This type of “help” walks that fine line of enabling and beyond the impact to the retirees themselves can wreck the ability of adult children to build independence and find their own financial success.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences with this topic in the comments below. Are you still supporting your adult children financially? Do you know anyone who struggles with finding the balance between building a substantial nest egg while still supporting their child as an adult?

CreditCards.com 2019 study:

Read the full article on this topic here:

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Disclosure: This information is provided to you as a resource for informational purposes only. It is being presented without consideration of the investment objectives, risk tolerance or financial circumstances of any specific investor and might not be suitable for all investors. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Investing involves risk including the possible loss of principal. This information is not intended to, and should not, form a primary basis for any investment decision that you may make. Always consult your own legal, tax or investment advisor before making any investment/tax/estate/financial planning considerations or decisions.

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