A new study finds that far too many baby boomers are sacrificing their own retirement goals and plans to help ease some of the short-term economic pain facing their children and their own parents.
Ameriprise recently released
Money Across Generations II, Family First which concludes that boomers are literally caught in middle age, providing financial support to their elderly parents and to their grown children.
The survey found such behavior to be widespread. Nearly all boomers surveyed (93%) have provided some form of financial support to their adult children. That includes helping them pay for college tuition or loans (71%), allowing them to live at home rent-free (55%) and helping them to buy a car (53%). Many are helping their kids pay for care and health insurance, rent, utilities and car payments.
However, all this assistance has come at a price. More than one-third of responding boomers (34%) say helping their adult children has slowed the pace of their retirement savings.
Also, more than half of all boomers (58%) help their parents with daily household tasks and home maintenance. In addition, many are also chipping in for groceries (22%), medical bills (15%) and helping out their parents with monthly utility bills (14%). Ten percent of boomers said helping their own parents has hindered their retirement savings efforts.