{"id":12709,"date":"2024-08-23T14:31:54","date_gmt":"2024-08-23T21:31:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/?p=12709"},"modified":"2024-10-02T16:20:40","modified_gmt":"2024-10-02T23:20:40","slug":"how-to-help-young-adult-children-achieve-financial-independence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/blog\/how-to-help-young-adult-children-achieve-financial-independence\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Help Young Adult Children Achieve Financial Independence"},"content":{"rendered":"
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How To Help Young Adult Children Achieve Financial Independence<\/h2>\n

Mastering financial independence, much like any other challenge someone is taking on for the first time, doesn\u2019t happen all at once. Instead, it\u2019s a \u201cwork in progress,\u201d according to a report from the Pew Research Center<\/a> which found that just 45% of young adults (age 18-34) say they\u2019re completely financially independent from their parents. Those who aren\u2019t financially independent frequently have costs for things like household expenses, cell phones and streaming services covered by the ever-trustworthy \u201cbank of mom and dad.\u201d<\/p>\n

The good news is that of those young adults surveyed who aren\u2019t financially independent, 75% say they\u2019ll eventually get there. In other words, even though they may be leaning on their parental units for now, they\u2019re confident it\u2019s just a matter of time before they spread their wings and fly. Parents are similarly optimistic, with 72% saying they think their child can eventually achieve financial independence.<\/p>\n

And that optimism is great, but if you\u2019re a parent in the throes of continuing to support your adult child financially (at the same time you\u2019re trying to pursue your own goals, like saving for retirement), you might be wondering: how do we give them a little nudge? It\u2019s an important question to ask sooner rather than later.\u00a0 Another recent piece of research<\/a> found that more than half of parents say they\u2019re sacrificing their own financial security to help their adult kids.\u00a0 Here are four of the best ways to cut the financial cord and help the young adults in your life find financial independence.<\/p>\n

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Understand the Cyclical Nature of What You\u2019re Doing<\/h3>\n

If you\u2019re helping your children with their finances to the detriment of your own (like giving them so much money that you\u2019re forced to put your own retirement savings on hold), it’s more likely that your children may need to step in and help you down the road, perhaps with costs for long-term care. This may be likely to happen at the point when your offspring are trying to launch their own<\/em> kids, which could be an insurmountable burden. So, ask yourself: Am I better off pushing my kids to be more financially independent now so that I can be more financially independent later?<\/p>\n

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Offer Help With Information \u2014 Not With Cash<\/h3>\n

Sometimes what your children actually need most is advice about how to make their financial lives function better. Thankfully, there are steps you can take to guide your child without opening your wallet that will help them get closer to financial independence. For example, you can help them make a budget, track their expenses or figure out how to sign up for the new student loan repayment program so they can maximize their monthly outlay. The book \u201cHow to Money<\/a>\u201d offers an excellent guide for young people just launching their financial lives.<\/p>\n

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Start Gradually<\/h3>\n

Today, more young adults from the ages of 18-24 live with their parents than in the past, according to the Pew Research Center<\/a>. However, 72% of young adults who still live at home with their parents say they contribute financially to the household in some way. Some help by covering the cost of groceries, taking on utility bills, or contributing to the rent or mortgage. If you have adult children under your roof who aren\u2019t kicking in their fair share, it\u2019s time to sit down with them and go over your own household budget. Identify ways that are realistic for them to contribute \u2014 not just to reduce your own expenses, but also to get them used to being responsible for a monthly household expense.<\/p>\n

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Set Some Limits<\/h3>\n

Whether your child is living with you, or whether you\u2019re giving them a particular sum each month or paying certain bills, it\u2019s time you establish a roadmap for exactly how long this support will continue and in what way you\u2019d like to phase it out. Be above board with your kids about your own needs and plans so that they can develop their own strategies and best practices for financial independence. It may seem like tough love at first, but with you to guide them along the way, there\u2019s nothing your little (big!) ones can\u2019t accomplish.<\/p>\n<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mastering financial independence doesn\u2019t happen all at once. Instead, it\u2019s a work in progress. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":12710,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[148],"class_list":["post-12709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life-finances","tag-finance"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12709"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12709\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12927,"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12709\/revisions\/12927"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}