Читать книгу Launching Financial Grownups - Bobbi Rebell - Страница 12

The COVID-19 pandemic has further amplified this issue for many families. Adult children moved back home during what was also an economic crisis. In some cases, they were being forced out of prolonged adolescence because their parents and/or grandparents need them to step up and care for them medically or financially – in some cases both. How prepared the younger generation was for this varied, and they often wished their parents had prepared them better for what was a shock to the system. They were forced to grow up and be financially responsible for someone other than themselves – when some had not even been fully financially responsible for themselves yet.

Some families experienced the opposite. Young adults moved home and into their childhood bedrooms and the family slid into old habits, including financial dependence. Meals were there for them, laundry was done, and life was good. Childhood perks are so much more appreciated as an adult! But after the initial adjustment period, an evolution of family roles began to happen for many families living in newly formed multigenerational living situations.

Many parents have told me adult offspring moving home was the silver lining to come out of COVID-19. Getting to know their kids as adults was wonderful, and they were happy to (temporarily) revisit their old family routines – only it was better in some ways. For the first time, they weren't competing with their kids' social plans to get them to sit down for dinner. They weren't rushing off to different events and activities. There was time. Lots of time.

What was most fascinating were the stories I heard about how the unexpected move home allowed parents insights into how well-prepared kids were to be financial grownups. It opened up opportunities to have conversations about economic realities that were not part of the parent–child relationship before, in part because everyone – parents and kids – had been totally overscheduled and overworked. Kids were in the room while their parents had open and honest discussions about financial challenges, which helped them better appreciate their parents' experiences. Likewise, parents got a better sense of how well their kids had been managing real-world money choices.

Remember, this was not the case where all the young adults were moving home for economic reasons, although that was often a big factor through no fault of their own. It wasn't about an adulting failure – financial or otherwise. They were moving home for both their and their parents' health and safety. Many families were able to leverage this season of their lives into an opportunity to build stronger financial foundations as a family. Total costs often came down because everyone was home so much. It opened up communication lines in ways that could not have come about through the normal course of events in “the before times,” as we have started to call the pre-COVID period. It was a unique, unplanned experience that often presented exceptional challenges but also unexpected relationship and financial benefits.