While helping our children is something we expect to do as parents, at least until they are financially independent, it is important to realize the long-term cost this can have on our own future.  Many parents are still financially supporting their adult children or have them still living at home with no costs, free rent, and the fridge full.

Some parents of millennials are still not able to stop the “helicopter parent syndrome” even for their adult children.  American parents are struggling to save and stay on track to becoming financially comfortable but then are side-tracked with worry about their adult children.  Many believe their adult children are not going to attain the same level of comfort just on their own resources and will need continuous assistance.

We have all worked hard all our lives and have always wanted our children to have a better life than we did.  You want them to have the necessary skills to be successful adults, have a solid education, and be whatever they want to be.  But there is a fine line between giving enough and giving too much especially when they are no longer children.  Most parents are not able to say “NO” and sometimes they should.  It is necessary to teach the lesson that we don’t always get what we want.  Did you get everything you wanted out of your life?

Christine’s Tip:

Obviously, the demands now on parents are dramatically different than they were in the 60’s and 70s.  Our parents would never have dreamed of doing what todays parents do for their children.  Many now, are willing to sacrifice all; to financially support their adult children in what is believed to be an economic environment where young adults face higher unemployment rates, high housing costs and large student debt.  Millennials today are now the smartest and most technically advanced generation of all time, yet feel they have more uncertainty, more stress and have more anxiety and depression than their parents ever did.  This may indeed be true and could account for some of the reasons why so many older parents are now having to put their retirement plans on hold.