Time to Leave the Nest The High Price of Financing Adult Kids
There’s no question that living costs have skyrocketed in recent years. Circumstances like an unpredictable housing market, inflation and now tariffs are seriously affecting family budgets— and in some cases, delaying when adult kids “leave the nest” and become financially independent. Houses, groceries, cars, student loans and other costs have caused plenty of people to reshuffle their spending habits to make ends meet.
But are these rising expenses enough to justify older parents sacrificing their retirement savings—and delaying or missing their own life milestones—to help their grown kids stay financially afloat?
There’s a concerning trend of parents who give their grown kids financial support, and often without any strings attached. In fact, nearly 50% of parents report assisting their grown children with some aspect of living costs. And on average, these parents are spending $1,474 each month to help with their adult kids’ living expenses, covering things like groceries, cell phone bills and even paying for vacations. That’s more than double what most parents put into their own retirement accounts each month!1 While this might seem like a generous thing to do, I actually see this as a huge problem—and one that we need to talk about. Aside from a few special, temporary circumstances when it makes sense to help adult kids cover their expenses or let them live at home, this behavior has got to stop.
Before I explain situations when it might make sense and be helpful for an adult child to move back home, or for an older parent to help their grown kids cover monthly expenses, here’s the big point I want to make clear: Adult kids have more time and more opportunity to make money and get their financial lives on track than older parents.
