Much like many, I would spend every last dollar on my children.
This wonderful tendency has a cost.
A big one.
The retirement crisis – I prefer “financial freedom” – is real and getting bigger.
Career Counseling Connecticut has increasingly worked with boomerang children.
To be clear, when I speak of children being financially independent that does not necessarily mean that they do not live with you.
Adult children living with parents was/is the most common arrangement in history of the world and much of the world outside the US.
The adult child who cannot contribute fully is a relatively new phenomenon.
The drain is considerable. Even if living at home, food/utilities are additional costs even if you are not writing your child a check.
Other transfers of money are even more significant.
This adds up. See compound interest.
Run some simple numbers: $1000/month. 5 years. (Let’s say ages 22-27). 7% rate of return (which is moderate). That’s $71, 197.
Now, let’s say the adult child then becomes financially independent and let’s say you were 55 when they did. That $71k earning 7% with nothing added becomes close to $200k.
Crazy.
We can help your child become financially independent.
It matters to them and it matters to you.