Many Parents Sacrifice Retirement Savings to Fund Adult Children’s Lifestyle

Half of parents with adult children say supporting their grown children has been detrimental to their retirement savings, according to a new Bankrate.com report. In fact, 17% say it has had a significant impact.

Bankrate.com also learned that higher earners with adult children are more likely to sacrifice their retirement savings, and among lower earnings, many have never saved for retirement at all. Sixty percent of those with adult children and a household income greater than $80,000 have jeopardized their retirement savings for their adult children’s bills. Seventeen percent of those making less than $50,000 a year with at least one child 18 or older have not saved anything for retirement.

“Addressing the financial elephant in the room isn’t always an easy conversation to have, but it is imperative for your future and your child’s long-term success,” says Kelly Anne Smith, an analyst at Bankrate.com. “By not prioritizing your own expenses and retirement savings, that is when everyone suffers.”

In general, parents stop paying for their children’s expenses between the ages of 19 and 23. Millennials think it should be later, and Baby Boomers think it should be earlier.

“The way young people come of age has changed somewhat over the past 50 years or even longer,” says Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate.com. “There’s no longer a sense of immediate need for young people to enter the workforce, even on a part-time basis.”

Bankrate.com’s findings are based on an online survey of 2,553 adults that YouGov Plc conducted between April 3 and April 5.