Are Your Adult Children Derailing Your Retirement?

I’m Jon Sanchez, and today we are talking about a retirement expense that almost nobody puts into their financial plan.It isn’t healthcare.It isn’t inflation.It isn’t taxes.It isn’t a stock-market correction.It’s your adult children.That may sound harsh, but this is not a show about criticizing young adults. Housing is expensive. Groceries are expensive. Insurance, childcare, automobiles and borrowing costs have all become more difficult for young families.Many adult children are working hard and still struggling.And when your child calls and says:“Mom, I’m short on rent.”“Dad, my car broke down.”“We need help with a down payment.”“We can’t afford daycare.”What parent doesn’t want to help?But here is the question nobody wants to ask:At what point does helping your children begin jeopardizing your own retirement?A recent BMO survey found that 48% of parents and 41% of grandparents planned to financially assist their adult children. Even more revealing, 27% of Americans said parents should financially support their children for as long as they are alive.That means millions of retirement plans may contain an expense that was never included in the original calculation.Today, we’re going to talk about how to help your family without becoming their permanent financial safety net—and how to recognize when love and guilt are making financial decisions that your retirement plan cannot afford.