If, when your children were teenagers, you started a habit of giving each child $200 on Christmas morning, then they may continue to expect to receive that gift every year, even when they’re in their 40s.
Or maybe one of your children doesn’t have the income to support the lifestyle he or she wants or was accustomed to while growing up in your home — and you’ve made a habit of helping pay for a big-city apartment or private school tuition for the grandchildren.
While every parent wants to help his or her children, continuing to give money to grown children on a regular basis can cripple your own financial situation as you near retirement. “I regularly see clients who have set up adequate retirement planning for themselves, but are now making unplanned, regular withdrawals to give money to their grown children, often putting their own retirement in jeopardy,” says Joe Heider, president of Cirrus Wealth Management Group in Cleveland.
If you’re facing questions about how to finance your own retirement and yet feel that your adult children expect you to regularly dole out money, it can be difficult to stop, even when you can’t really afford it anymore.
A Habit Worth Breaking?
Aging adults say giving money to grown children is one of the top financial habits they’d be willing to change in order to get their retirement on firmer footing, according to a recent survey from Merrill Lynch and Age Wave, which studied 50,000 respondents over four years.
Of those surveyed, 84% said they would like to educate their family on ways to be more financially independent, while 70% said they would consider cutting back on support to post-college children. Among those Americans who give their adult children post-college financial support, the average amount given is $6,800 annually, according to the study, an amount that could contribute substantially to the parents’ own retirement.
If you’re in the habit of handing over money to your adult children and the practice is affecting your own financial security, it may be time to make a change.
The Problem With Over-Generosity
There is nothing wrong with being generous to your children, even when your children are in their 40s or 50s — so long as you can afford it. But when that generosity starts to endanger your own finances, prevents your adult child from accepting responsibility for his or her own life, or creates tension among siblings, it can become a problem. “If you’re setting up a pattern of helping a child establish a lifestyle that they can’t support, you’re enabling that child to be fiscally irresponsible, which will probably create a crisis later,” Heider says.
Such situations create a codependent relationship between the adult children and the parents, says Jim Wiley, AIF, CEO and chief investment strategist at the Wiley Group in West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. “The kids become dependent on the money, and the parents become dependent on the emotions they feel by helping their children,” he says. “They don’t want to disappoint the kids who are expecting cash at Christmas time, or whenever they expect it.”
Finally, in many families, there may be some siblings who are very fiscally responsible, but one adult child who simply can’t support the lifestyle he or she wants. Heider says he often sees aging parents who are willing to support that one child — even when it means draining the parents’ retirement accounts and causing resentment among the other siblings.
You may also like: What to Do When Your Adult Kids Keep Fighting
How to Stop the Bleeding
If giving cash to your adult children is causing similar problems, there’s nothing wrong with stopping. After all, your children are presumably capable of supporting themselves and shouldn’t need to depend on you for their ongoing survival. However, for many parents whose adult children have grown accustomed to receiving cash gifts, it’s not that easy.
“As a parent, you always want the best for your children, but you also have to put your foot down, and it can be difficult to do that, especially if you haven’t made a habit of doing so,” Heider says. “Children get used to asking for something and getting it. But when you tell them you have a fixed amount of resources and you can’t afford to supplement their lifestyle anymore, they have to accept that they have to live within their means.”
Wiley recommends asking your financial planner to redo your distributions from your retirement plan for the coming years so you can see firsthand how the gifts to your children are affecting your financial future. “Then simply tell your children, ‘Look, my financial advisor told me I can’t give you money anymore because I’m not going to have what I will need for retirement,'” he says.
If your adult child is depending on your money to finance his or her lifestyle, Wiley says to take the discussion a step further. “Tell your adult children that you and your spouse made a mistake by allowing them to depend on you financially,” he says. “Tell them that you want them to struggle like you did because it’s a chance for growth. It’s important for each person to navigate financial trade-offs to determine your highest meaning and purpose.”
Give Your Children Skills Instead
If the idea of simply stopping what has become a habit of giving money to your adult children seems too harsh or abrupt, consider helping them acquire some financial skills.
If your adult child has never learned to create and live on a budget, for example, find out if they’re aware of the apps available to help them do so, such as YNAB (You Need a Budget), Mint, and others.
Another option is to introduce your child to your financial planner; an introductory meeting with someone you trust could help set them on the path of understanding and handling their own financial matters more consistently. Plus, your child may be more receptive to receiving financial advice from someone who’s not their parent.
Finally, even if you decide that you need to stop funding an adult child, there are no rules that say you have to stop cold turkey. You may want to set a time frame during which the funding you provide will be reduced incrementally, while your adult child is learning new financial skills, training for a new career, or otherwise asserting their financial independence. A gradual reduction in funding may help give your child the incentive to make some real changes as needed.
How to Give Money Correctly
While habitual gifts of money can become damaging to an aging parent’s financial situation as well as an adult child’s future, occasional gifts can certainly be appropriate. Maybe an investment performed really well this year and you want to share the gains with your children: No problem, Wiley says.
“You might just say, ‘We had a great year and we want to give each of you this amount,'” Wiley says. “If you do give money to your adult kids, just don’t do it consistently. Never do it on a yearly basis, but a sporadic basis is great. Nobody is depending on it, but you are able to surprise them and help them occasionally.”
In addition to occasional cash gifts, Wiley recommends funding children’s or grandchildren’s educational accounts as a way of helping out. “This makes perfect sense because nobody is depending on it to fund their budget, but it’s an important way of helping your children or grandchildren financially,” he says.
Of course, if one of your children has an emergency, such as a medical issue or divorce, that leaves him or her in need of financial help, it’s okay to make an exception, Heider says. But aiding an adult child through an emergency is different from supporting a lifestyle for that child that he or she can’t maintain on their own.
Keep in mind that if you’ve raised your children to be responsible adults, they should be capable of supporting themselves. They may not yet have the lifestyle they want, but that’s life: You will not always be around to support them, and helping them learn to live within their means may be one of the most important things you can do to show your love for them.
Next Steps:
Looking for more tips and strategies to help parent your grown children? Subscribe to the Extra Mile Newsletter and get more stories like this delivered to your inbox.
My husband controls the finances. He pays our grown son’s car payment, pays half of a monthly payment on a boat, buys him takeout food several times a week. Meanwhile we are retired, in debt, I had to sell my car and we can’t afford a vacation. If I bring up anything about stopping giving all that money to our son, he talks like I am a bad mother who doesn’t care about our son. He has always given our son too much freedom and spent too much money on him. I would have been stricter, but I had to battle both my husband and my son. I am so depressed and I just feel stuck until I die.
I’m in the same “boat.” My kid will be much better off than I ever was when I go, yet I feel not able to enjoy doing anything. My goal is to be able to take one or two vacations and use my pension for myself. That’s it!
I’m grateful for all the comments helping me realize I’m not alone in this struggle. My daughter is 24 and is a sweet and lovely person. She works a full time job at a CPA office. She has an associates degree and would like to continue her education. She had a difficult childhood with epilepsy and Crohn’s Disease. Me and her father are still married and wanted to make her transition to adult living as easy as possible due to her struggles with disease. We bought her a brick 3 bedroom 2 bath home less than a mile from ours under the condition that she and her live In boyfriend would pay half the payment and the utilities. Her boyfriend is a loser!!! He will not keep a job, keeps his hair colored a different strange color every time I see him and of course she can’t afford expenses that I expect her to pay in addition to his habits and hair color geez! I want to help my daughter and keep her life easy and stress free but I’m going to have to cut her off if she continues to give our hard earned money to this idiot.
I’m 69 and have a son who thinks he’s entitled to me giving him money before my eyes are closed.I’m very disappointed in him. He’d rather do deliveries instead of getting a regular job like normal people. I had put him out before and took him back in. I now see that was a big mistake. I now know once I put him out again I will not let him back in. His behavior wears me out. Most of these young people are ungrateful and have the “Prodigal Son” mentality.
Thanks Carol. I know exactly how you feel and I am in my mid 60’s and I would be interested in knowing how you are doing now. I am becoming depressed over my situation with my only child. He lives on his own but always asking for money. I never ask this from my parents. I’ve always been self sufficient and I don’t understand why he doesn’t seem to want that for himself as well. I’m about at my breaking point. Any more advice would be greatly appreciated.
I have to songs I paid child support to them but now they’re both over 18 . They still live with there mom
I want to help with the kids financially occasionally, but I do not want mom to get the money. Could you advise a proper way of doing this without sounding like I’m buying their love. And to ensure that the kids are getting the money, not the mom.
My partner has a 25 year old daughter from a previous relationship. Even though he fully funded her education, she never worked and now opted for a 4 year doctorate. She insists all her time is used on research and she can not work. My partner is obsessed with the idea of her having the title. Her faculty does not fund this vanity doctorate and he is nearly 70, has various health issues, yet continues working fulltime to pay for everything, tuition, rent, food, electricity. She now went on a 4 week trip to Asia, he is paying.
She calls him when she needs heavy furniture moved and even though she has a tall strong partner, she calls her old Dad. He is entirely enslaved. We don’t live together, yet when he visits I cook and buy things. When I visit his house, he is mean, reprimands me on using too many olives and even took away a bag of peanuts, claiming I had eaten enough. I’m very hurt, I get zero respect, his life only revolves around her. When I mention the absurdity of the situation, he gets insulted, telling me I have no right to attack her. I’m at wits ends. I so much wish I could leave him, but I still have feelings for him.
I have a 28 yo Daughter that is on SSI and food assistance. We absolutely can not live together because we are like fire and gasoline! I pay 1/2 her rent and all of her
Utilities so we don’t have to live together. I am out about 800.00 a month. I am beginning to wean her off because
Although I do make a 6 figure income, at 46 I need to start thinking about my own financial future and retirement. It’s gonna be tough but I have to
Do it.
I have a daughter age 28 and a son age 22, both living in the same city, My daughter has a good paying job and my son is halfway through college. We provide for our son’s education, including groceries, the use of an older car and gas just like we did for our daughter while she was in school . Any incidentals such as entertainment expenses are on him. My son took a gap year last year and was fully self supportive during that year. When they came home last year, they drove in my daughter’s car since it was newer and they split the gas money. All is OK so far, right? This year, my son is completely dependent upon us again for gas like I mentioned earlier. When they came home for Thanksgiving, they told us that since we pay for my son’s gas and my son in the car, we pay for all the gas. I replied that it made sense to split the gas responsibility between the two like they did last year and we would cover my son’s portion. This opinion was not popular with my daughter. She said what if my son was to drive them both home, would you expect me to pay half? I said yes. My thought is that we are obligated for his financial responsibilities and not treating the transportation of my son as a free ride for my daughter no matter which car they took. The fact that we are covering my son’s gas money doesn’t change the amount he would normally be responsible for. Any comments would be appreciated.
Over the last several years I have “loaned” my son money based on his promise to pay me back and he did at times in the beginning. Since then he constantly needs money, harasses me until I say yes, and promises me that he will pay me back in a couple of days but never does. I have records of ATM withdrawals, hotel payments, and more. Is there any way I can recover at least some of this money. I am 77 years old and my retirement accounts have lost value due to the current economic circumstances. He is 52 years old and is on SSD. He receives $2,500 per month and wastes it on cigarettes, hotels, Uber rides, ordering food, drinks at pubs, but never even pays me back one penny.
I have 3 children, for the most part I have 1 son that is very money responsible, other one somewhat, my daughter not so. She borrowed money and promised to pay back, when comes due avoiding me like the plague. I’ve help her several times, let her son lives my husband and I 3 times and we are on a fixed income only having social security. We are struggling to make it. I think what hurts me most is she can go camping with her friends only out of guilt visit us on holidays like Christmas and whenever we are in in the hospital or sick can’t come see us. She always visit a friend or so call like a mom and stay with them. I feel used and unloved!
I have the same situation with my 52-year-old son. Constantly “borrows” money but never pays me back. This has been going on for years and the amount of money he has taken from me is in the five digit thousands. If this keeps up, I will go broke at some point. There comes a point where you must say “no.”
I’m going through the same with my 50yr. son. I need to change this habit and it’s hard. he lived with me for 4yrs. I sold my home he has his own appt. now & I’m searching for mine. he still calls looking for money! I need help
My parents have supported my older sister her entire adult life. They opened her a business, 100k, bought her a car 30k, international travel, plane tickets, and college for her daughter who never visits despite living in the same town. She has defaulted on loans she owes them over a 25 year span. My best guesstimate is well over 200k. One occasion, she borrowed 25k with the agreement that when she sold her house, at that same time, she would pay them back. My dad asked about it and she literally pitched a hissy fit, attacked his character and didn’t speak to either of my parents for at least a year. Fortunately, this ridiculousness hasn’t and will not affect their retirement. Currently, they are paying her mortgage, taxes and insurance plus pest control etc., on a house she hasn’t lived in for well over 2 years, 30k. She rolls in at thanksgiving to sell her house. All kinds of problems with that deal which lead to my parents loaning her 30k for a roof so she can sell her house. Today she calls, from we don’t know where from a motel she’s living in bc it’s too cold for them to stay in their 26 ft camper trailer. There is a lien against her house and she can’t sell it unless she settles that for 5k. Both of my parents have Parkinson’s and I’ve moved from Florida to live will them as long as I can. I feel privileged to be able to be with them and tend to their care but it is a real sacrifice. My mom is full time caregiver as her PD has not advanced as far as my dads. This behavior is so bothersome in so many ways. And it all started with a loan when she was 18 bc she got married. And will never stop. Oh. She doesn’t work and her husband earns over 100k. In case you are curious, my husband and I have never asked or accepted money from my parents. We are 53, I’ve stayed home to raise our three responsible children. My husband has provided for our family on a middle class income. Our goal has been for him to retire at 60 years old with 4 million in savings. Maxing our Ira contribution from day one and never lowering it even as expenses increased with three children was first. Shopping thrift, home birthday parties, planning for vacations, NEVER letting the one credit card we have roll over a balance to the next month, we are on track to meet our goal. Extremely blessed. So as they send a check to settle the lien tomorrow, she will sell her house to pay off credit card debt knowing full well she has my parents money to bail her out the next time. Hard work and living below your means financial independence.
Ironically, my sister will inherit millions for being absolutely terrible to my parents and financially irresponsible.
As a blended family . Our children are all adults and married. But every year my husband sends nice amounts of money on the check for his Doughter and her family but my adult children don’t count I have been strolling with this issue for 40 years any suggestions it breaks my hearth .wether it’s their birthday or the xmass holiday. My adult kids don’t get anything it is always arguing about this issue . Please help.
I’m so sorry to hear this. I’m in a similar situation. Do you have a shared account? Why not just issue tge same amount to your kids? Why is his child deemed having more worth than yours? What a horrible situation.
I too have a blended family of yours mine and ours. My husband and I have been married 25 years and we have six kids. We have always treated the kids the same. So at Xmas we made sure they all got the same value of gifts. And trust me it was a great move. As adults we have helped them with doing things and letting live at home but we did not pay for college because we felt it would mean more if they did it themselves. We also supported if college wasn’t their thing. How did it turn out? Well 2 chose no college. I think that you and your husband should treat your kids the same and you both should be discussing what that could be and how much to give, 40 years is a long time to have been weighing on you
Your Article “Giving Money to Grown Children: When to stop and how to break the habit” was a God send for me.
Our situation is much worse be cause both my wife and I are in our late 60s and are both on Social Security Fixed Income.
We also struggled with finances and did not become financially responsible until we were in our 40s. We have struggled financially until a a few years ago. At that time we had to make some major life style changes and are now happy with our current financial and finally able to start saving and not having any money in the Bank at the end if the month even though it is only a few 100 dollars.
One of our children is a 40 year female and is repeating the same financial mistakes we made in our early life. Even though she is 40 and very smart and nature, she doesn’t grasp the concept of financial responsibility, saving money, or Debit.
About a year ago my daughter got in over her head and came to us for help. Thinking we were helping her out of our love for our children we started giving her money every month. Unfortunately we now find our self struggling financially again due to this problem.
Both my wife realize that children are a product of their parents and that the parents are influences their children’s adulthood. We made some mistakes, regret it, and have moved on.
I am planning to have the very same talk with my 40 year old daughter and worried about how to approach her and what to say.
Bobby
My husband and I are going through this nightmare with my 36 year-old son and his girlfriend. Though he had a good job and was getting a college degree, my son met a woman with three young kids who lived on government assistance. They had two more kids, and her mentally disabled mother lives with them too, adding to their burden. His girlfriend claims she doesn’t believe in birth control though they already have too many mouths to feed. He lost his job, because she kept calling him at work. She wants him home to take care of the kids and do the housework. He has been out of work for a couple of years now, and his car was repossessed.
They text me several times a week, wanting groceries, money, rides, or something. She’s fanatical about food and everything we get them has to be organic, which costs even more, especially for a large family.
It’s so hard for me to say no when I fear the children are in need, but we’re feeling so fed up with it all.
We also spoil the kids at Christmas, spending way too much. I was very poor growing up, and I just want them to be happy. I start shopping after Christmas to get clearance deals. And that would be great if it ended there, but for the past three years, my son has said he’s broke and can’t afford gifts for them, and so we end up having to shell out more money so that he can get them gifts. We love the kids,, but this is insane! I know we need to start putting a tight limit on this holiday spending.
Thank you for letting me vent!
It’s so sad that my elderly husband still works hard and his 48 year old son lives in a big beautiful house and doesn’t work. My husband pays all his bills month after month for years. He can’t keep a job!! I can’t make my husband understand that he is 68 and won’t be able to work much longer and his son is taking advantage of him.
Nancy.
Im going through the same thing. My boyfriend is 62 and his 2 grown children ages 23 and 27 are completely dependent on him financially. One has just recently gone to work. The other dyed her hair green (27 year old) and just sits at home. I have 2 very successful daughters ages 25 and 27. Its putting a strain on our relationship and im not wanting to move forward until this …if ever… is resolved.
Wow sounds like my situation but we are married for 19 years now and it hasn’t changed. My husband has been supporting 1 of his sons since we got married. We fight all the time but his reasoning is that his my son, stop being greedy!
Hi I’m looking for some advice please and maybe from someone that has solved their problem..my Daughter is 41 years old she has 2 children her 20 year old son lives with me ..she is working partime 3 days a week. I always seem to be lending her money that she never returns . pay bills for back tax her car it its never ending.. I know I need to say no and mean it .I have now told her she needs a full-time job that I can’t help her any longer..lm 67 still working pastime and trying to save a little for my retirement..I don’t want to fall out with her I feel I can’t do this any longer..Regards Margaret
My beloved, soft-hearted husband passed last month, leaving his two healthy, middle-aged sons and their families to now take care of themselves. Everything they could get or inherit later from their deceased Mom was spent immediately so they looked to their Dad next. Ongoing medical issues and expenses prompted my husband to tell them two years ago, support would have to stop. Nothing changed with their way of living. The phone calls started right before he passed and there was plenty of drama at the memorial service. There is nothing to give them now and they are very angry and, probably scared. Sadly, I doubt I’ll hear from them again since I’m the stepmother and somehow this will be my fault but I do wish them the best. People, please learn a lesson here and don’t cripple your children this way. You aren’t helping anybody and they won’t love you in the end.
I have a son that is 21,he has not had a steady job in a long time.I pay his car note ,his insurance,and whatever else he ask for.I live on a fixed income,and I will do without just to make sure that he has.Like my electricity is fixing to be shut off.Him and his girlfriend just got their stimulas in and I asked for 60.00 to pay my light bill and they got mad at me.What do I do?Cause I feel bad when he is stuggljng but he don’t care if I do.
I have a 27 year son with mental illness who lives at home. He is emotionally abusive to me his mother. He works hard but blows his money on gambling and medical marijuana. I originally was the one who would collect money for cell, car insurance, etc. $200 a month. Now my husband has taken it over. He does pay but then gets down to nothing in his account and asks me for money. I am foolish and give him money that he says is for gas. I know I am enabling him. I am physically and mentally exhausted from this ongoing battle. He has stolen from us and other family members. I would like to kick him out but they I feel bad. Any suggestions?
This starts young. It’s important to teach them $$ skills as children bc they definitely get worse w age. AND both parents must agree and not circumvent a set system. We can not seem to get out 23 and 27 year old boys to go to college and be independent. Talk doesn’t do it. Only pulling the plug will. And when one parent doesn’t stick to the plan it causes major problems in the marriage. Start early!!
I have the same situation with my 32 year old son. He is well educated and has no personal debt. He has only worked for 3 months and that was 3 years ago! He claims he has OCD, depression and anxiety. He takes medication, but will not seek treatment. He has been living at home during COVID. Things are bad on most days. How can I motivate him to find a job and be independent? I cannot afford to support him.
I have 2 grown sons. The oldest want me to pay for his apartment and didn’t want to work. My ex wife was extremely bitter when we divorced. She convinced my youngest son to agree to let her take his personal va college benefits for her personal things. While piling student loans on his credit. She also set him up to fail in college. He struggled through high school and his basketball coach and I set up a Jr College scholarship with tutor assistance. His mom said no and put him in a university starting with 7 classes. She put him in full time classes so she could get the max amount of money. Long story short. He fail the out of college owning $26,000 in student loans without even an associates degree. I was trying to direct him the right way but she was controlling his life. He is not working and ask me for money on a regular basis. Its not a lot of money and I can afford it but his bitter mom knows I love them and is trying to get in my pockets to bail him from what she took from him. I see what she’s doing but its still hard not to help when I can afford it. He only ask when he needs it. I usually send him what he asks for. How can I deal with this situation knowing his mom is purposely ruining his financial life to hurt me and him?
I want to stop giving money to my 52 year old daughter She continues to get jobs and works for a few days and then quits Then she needs money for rent. I am afraid to not give the money as she will then have to live on the street. She lives in one room and I think all she does is eat and watch tv. I know I need to stop giving money but what do I do. I will soon have to stop as she has just about used all my saving. I refuse to give her money from my 401 plan as I use that as emergency money. How do I get it through her head that I cannot keep doing this. I just want to sit and cry as I raised such a child. Have two other children and they have jobs and do not have to give them money all the time. What do I do? I wonder if she can get some kind of assistance? Any suggestions would help. Thanks for letting me vent.
I’m in yuor exact situation. My daughter is almost 50 and she jumps from job to job and asks me at least 2-3 times a week for money, I always feel sorry for her and do it, but recently I wasn’t able to send her any more as I had sent her bout $1100. in the past 3 weeks. She harassed me to the point I had to block her form all forms of communication for a while. She said terrible things about me and my husband as well. He is not her father, but is such a sweet man and had never done anything but be nice to her. She lived with a boyfriend who is as bad as she is. If this was anybody else I would have filed a restraint order with the police. I am 70 years old and this has affected my health mentally and physically. The saddest part in that I realize now I have created this situation to continue and that I now realize this is only nice to me if I am giving her money. I have to be done.
Kerry, I see so many parents commenting on here that they are afraid there children won’t talk to them anymore if they quit supporting them. To me that one is easy. If that’s the only reason they talk to you then just understand you probably didn’t raise them right. In your situation you say your concern is that your child will be homeless. I think your daughter should be able to use resources available like welfare or unemployment or whatever she is eligible for to pay for her living expenses. If it’s not enough then she needs to change her living situation. Not rely on you to make up the difference. I would tell her that. Hope this helps.
This is a real challenge in my life, as I don’t have children, but my soon-to-be fiance does. He is a widow, and his daughter, age 25, lives with him and he financially supports her in every way. She does work, but spends all her money on vacations, clothes, partying and eating out, and her fancy car. She has now decided to go back to school, since she can live off her Dad and get her education. She plans to be there at least until her 2 year degree is completed, she starts this fall. He is 62 and I’m 59, and I’ve been single for 22 years. So in periods of unemployment, I’ve had to cash in my retirement accounts to live on. I’m so concerned about retirement that I’m reconsidering if he and I can afford a future together or no, especially without financial boundaries with his daughter. I should mention, she’s a lovely girl and we get along well, so I’m afraid if we exert pressure in this area it will turn her against me, and I really want us to be a family. His older daughter lives in another state and is financially independent.
Kathy, thank you for your comment.
First let me say what a difficult situation you and your husband are in, and what caring, loving parents your daughter has!
We certainly understand your concerns around your daughter’s living situation, her future career/work prospects, and the strained relationship with her fiance’s mother. It sounds like you’ve done all the right things—in terms of you and your son offering her a temporary place to stay and pointing her in the direction of good employment.
It also sounds like you must focus on your husband’s care since his accident and subsequent retirement.
But a mother’s heart hopes for their child’s independence and success no matter how old they are, and it must be so hard to see your daughter struggle while knowing that she’s bright and capable.
Have you tried talking to your daughter about some realistic goals? For example, what does she see herself doing in 5 years? Where does she see her relationship with her fiance in 2 years? What is the job or career she’s always hoped for? Maybe by opening the conversation that way, you can get a sense of where she might be struggling and how you can help in ways that financial support alone could not.
Also, a number of relationship and family experts shared their insights around parenting adult children in this article, Adult Children: The Guide to Parenting Your Grown Kids, which I wrote last year. Perhaps you’d find some resources in there to have these tough but important conversations with your daughter—and to find a place where you’re helping her without enabling her, or doing more than you’re truly able to at this time in your life.
Here’s a helpful quote from the article:
“How do you avoid enabling adult children, particularly when your adult child is demanding and needy (and perhaps has been that way throughout childhood)? Begin with setting boundaries with adult children and keep the goal of independence in mind. Work together to establish expectations. Talk openly about challenges and be honest in your communication about hurts and hopes.”
As an adult child who previously relied a lot of my father financially because I worked for him, lived in one of his properties, got my used cars from his car lot yet still paid rent and paid cost for my cars I made the choice to break away from him financially due to the emotional cost being too high. When things have been really hard I have doubted my decision and a few times while trying to financially educate myself, build a business and learn how to become financially independent I struggled a lot and had to turn to him for help. With the inability to pay my rent for 3 months he evicted me and my two children 2 years after my separation and divorce. I have made mistakes and have not lived within my means. I got used to a lifestyle while working for him that I can no longer afford. It’s been almost 3 years since he broke my heart and did the unthinkable but he talked me back into moving into one of his properties a year ago and thinking he would never do that to me again I did but reluctantly knowing I was still going through growing pains financially. I knew I would be able to pay my bills and rent and save from where I was. Back in July when I was only a few hundred dollars short one month when he went down the path to evict me again. It became only a few days prior to having a sheriff come to my home when I was able to secure the rent and fees so we didn’t have to leave. I just can’t fathom as a parent myself how a parent can do that to their own children. It literally broke my heart and now I haven’t spoken to him since. He had my cell phone shut off as well without telling me and I have a business I that I need my phone to run. While I understand and respect his decision to set boundaries with me financially, he certainly isn’t struggling. With a military pension that goes up every year, His business which has been around for 22 years now, multiple investment properties, and he is an attorney as well, he is actually quite well off and supports his fiance and her 3 adult children that live with them in their mansion plus my little sister and they go on extravagant trips every month. I admire where he is in his life because he’s worked very hard to get there and he’s been a single parent his whole life. However I cannot help the fact that his actions have deeply hurt me and the way he has handled my very own struggles with financial independence. I now feel like a black sheep and an outsider. The point of me sharing this is in hopes that while some of you may need to be tough loving with your adult children please don’t throw them out on the streets if you don’t have to. Try everything that you can first. Unconditional love and support goes a long way but also having serious conversations about where you’re at with them. Also what you think and believe about them truly is projected onto them subconsciously and your worst nightmare just may manifest before you so always believe in them and show them you do. Speak love into them. I also love how the article said several different options and one of them being slowly pulling back your financial support every month while they are educating themselves and trying to make their lives better if they are doing that. I wish that my father would have compassion and empathy for my situation and try to help me not hurt me. It’s been a huge burden mentally and emotionally. Best Wishes to you all in all of your situations.
We have 45 year old daughter who has no money. She has been living and engaged to a rich guy whose mother doesn’t like her. Mother wants her gone. She loves his lifestyle. Since Covid-19 her business in NY shut down. She can’t hold down a job for someone, so she always started own but never made any money at it. She has been asking me for years to help her out . I can’t do it anymore because my husband had bad accident in our home and had to retire. I’m 77 and he is 84. She always held it against him that he, after a while, cut her off. We offered her and so did my son to come home for a while to pull her self together but she said no. I need help and worried what will happen to her if his mother kicks her out. What will happen to her. She is a beautiful girl. Please tell me what I should do. She is well educated and we said get a job. Please help
Woah just what I was searching for, thank you for posting.
I hope someone can help me. I have a 50 year old daughter that keeps asking for money to pay for her apartment. food, and phone. She has no job and says she keeps telling me she is applying for jobs. If she does get a job she never has it for very long. I have been telling her that this cannot go on. I have about used up my saving and I will not give her any of my other money I have saved (401k etc) I am at my wits end as to what to do. If I stop giving her money I think she will be living on the streets. She has no friends to live with as she has wore out her welcome with the ones she does have. She lived with my husband and me for awhile but he is the step father and says if she comes back, he will move out. I love him and do not want to lose him because of her. Her real father is dead but he was about the same. As he never held a job for very long. I am retired from a job that I held for 31 years. I just do not understand her. I hope someone can give me some kind of advice. I know I should just say no. Please help Thanks Kerry
I have been dating a man for 6 months that is sending his daughter at least $500+ per month so she can afford her lifestyle. I don’t want to judge him on this but I know that someday it will affect our life together. I know I have to let him go. It’s too bad because he’s such a nice man.
My 30 year old daughter is educated, intelligent, and currently an unemployed teacher. She does not have kids or boyfriend. I cannot pay her bills and more. I would like to retire comfortably in n 10 years.
I just wanted to encourage the others with the same concerns. I am torn, because I feel that she will never talk to me again. However, my good friend told me that it is ok that be selfish
Can you believe that she asked me to pay for nails and lip sync injections? She was such a sweetie pie, then hung out with a different crowd.
Great article!
I am currently going through this issue with with my 46 year old son! I have been bailing him out ever since his adulthood! Things got easier after I retired and moved away and and on a fixed income. He has a tendency to spend any extra money he earns on frivolities instead of saving it in his emergency fund and now apparently he is foreseeing an emergency with his truck and thinks he may lose his job if he has no transportation when the snows come! He has said he is breaking off relationship with me and his dad as we are refusing financial help! I have a decent IRA that was predicted to last until 90 years of age and I am 73. Should I bail him out of this transportation issue?
My adult daughter hounds me for money and acts as if I owe her something, even saying I should have never had kids then.
I think it is a generational attitude, a sense of entitlement. Once grown I NEVER expected money from my parents, in fact I helped my parents out financially in their elder years.
Nancy, With a blended family getting both spouses to agree to a plan, for all children on both sides, can be the difficult part. Especially if there is a larger margin of retirement funds from one parent that the other. This can create a whole new can of worms. My spouse and I are working through that now while remembering that communication, with each other and all of the kids (41 to 50) is essential for our relationship, future, and sanity.
I compliment you on your excellent post. Its hard to say NO but when the giving turns into them expecting it I draw the line. It was actually easier than I thought.
I politely told my son that I would not be able to help him out financially any longer as we needed the money ourselves.
He is looking for ways and means to earn extra revenue. Sometimes we can do more harm than good by supporting them constantly.
I needed to hear this information. I am a retired widow whose adopted daughter as been living beyond her means for years. My husband was extremely generous to her. Now that it is just me, I can not continue to support her financially. She will not talk to me about it, so I wrote her a letter to tell her she was now going to have to take care of herself. This is one of the hardest things I have ever done. She is angry and it makes me sad. But I had no choice. Thank you for the support that gave me courage to move forward.
Hi Brenda, thank you for your kind feedback!
Good article….I abruptly stopped helping my kid with an explanation on how it was effecting my financial stability. I have a heavy heart but I know after several attempts of advice and financial assistance it was time. I did advise them to seek professional advice and hope they follow through.
Great article. It’s motivated and strengthen me to be able to discuss her dependency on me, needs to end, and she needs to start taking care of herself.
Great advice!