Читать книгу Launching Financial Grownups - Bobbi Rebell - Страница 21

The most realistic mindset is to be able to adapt when your kids need you and to separate that from ongoing financial support of adult responsibilities because it is just easier to use money to solve problems and challenges. That said, there is nothing wrong with helping a child with the down payment for a home that will accelerate their path to financial independence if it does not impede your own financial goals and security. What should be avoided is paying their rent for a couple of decades! If that is happening, the child is living a lifestyle way beyond their means, and both generations need to do some serious introspection.

Creating or contributing to a college fund for a grandchild will ease the burden on young adults struggling to pay for the everyday expenses of parenting young children. That's a wonderful gift that will have a positive and priceless impact on the family. Remember, that grandchild's education will help launch them as financial grownups. And yes! You can absolutely treat your kids to a memorable family vacation, a nice dinner out, or a spa day. It's fine.

This all assumes that you can afford to do this – which is not always the case. According to a 2019 Bankrate survey, 50 percent of parents sacrifice their retirement savings to help their adult children.¹ In that case, we need to resist our desire for generosity at the expense of our own self-sufficiency in the years to come. It is not surprising that this trend continued during the pandemic in 2020. CreditCards.com found that 79 percent of parents who helped their kids financially during the pandemic did so with money they would have used for their own personal finance needs.² This data is alarming because parents are putting their own financial health at risk, increasing the chances that ironically they will need their kid's financial help.

Let's face it: the only thing worse than needing your adult kids to bail you out financially is probably them not being able to help because they are still not financially secure themselves. In fact, during the pandemic, many parents faced unexpected economic turmoil and were reliant on young adult children to help the family. That's why it is so important to develop a family ecosystem, where we can all aspire to be financially independent of each other but know that we are also there for each other in the seasons of life where we need each other.