Unfortunately, most of your neighbors do not understand this critical concept. Industry website creditcards.com reports that 3 in 4 parents still subsidize the spending of their adult children.[1]

You should not take comfort from repeating the mistakes of the crowd.

When you give your adult children free handouts, you might actually be harming them. Here’s how: 

1. 1. You reinforce irresponsible behavior. When your children’s spending exceeds income, that’s bad behavior. We all need to learn to live within what we earn (unless you want to go deep into debt like many of your neighbors).[2]  Do not subsidize their excess spending.
   2. You transfer this misbehavior to your grandchildren. Imagine if your children passed these destructive habits to your grandchildren! According to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, this is precisely what can happen.[3]  Spoiling grandchildren now can tarnish your legacy of the values they live out later.
   3. You ruin your children’s budgets. The reality is that most parents consider gifts to children as one-time in nature. However, many adult children might forget that fact. Their spending adjusts to permanent levels, despite the fact that your gifting is not permanent.
   4. You deprive your children of joy. Adult children who truly love their parents desire for their parents to be happy. While money cannot buy you happiness, being poor does appear to go along with emotional problems, according to debt.org.[4]
   5. You might endanger the future financial well-being of your children. Adult children often fail to consider one very important risk: the risk that they themselves might have to support their parents in their old age.  This risk rises when their parents’ health grows worse. Parents can serve their children best by taking care of themselves first through responsibly enjoying their wealth for their own benefit. They might lessen the risk of children having to support their parents financially later on. Wise parents who successfully raised their adult children to be independent should take pride in that success. Such parents often enjoy better health.

Healthy parents ought to make their children happier, too.

Parents ought to live out the purpose for their lives first. Prudent financial planning can empower you to do this, perhaps with some room (on occasion) to spoil grandchildren.

We would be pleased to help you empower your family to live with purpose.

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[1] Brady Porche, “Poll: 3 in 4 parents with adult kids help them pay debts, living expenses” on https://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/pay-adult-childrens-debt-poll.php  accessed on June 13, 2018.
[2] Tae Kim, “Total US household debt soars to record about $13 trillion” on https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/13/total-us-household-debt-soars-to-record-above-13-trillion.html  accessed on June 13, 2018.
[3] “Parents Pass (Bad) Money Habits to Kids”, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College on http://squaredawayblog.bc.edu/squared-away/parents-pass-bad-money-habits-to-kids/  accessed on June 13, 2018.
[4] https://www.debt.org/advice/emotional-effects/  accessed on June 13, 2018.

The post 5 Ways You Can Ruin the Financial Future of Your Adult Children appeared first on AWM.