Are You Going Broke for Your Adult Child?

Are you paying your adult child’s rent, car payment, or other bills while your own retirement savings take a back seat? Helping an adult son or daughter can come from a place of love, but when temporary assistance becomes an ongoing financial arrangement, it may put your own future at risk.

In this episode of The Self Help Briefing with Mike and Jen, we explore the difficult line between supporting an adult child and enabling financial dependence. We also look at how enmeshment, guilt, fear, and family expectations can make setting boundaries especially difficult.

Mike and Jen discuss why financial boundaries don’t mean abandoning your child, how couples can get caught on opposite sides of the issue, and why helping an adult child become more independent may ultimately be more valuable than continuing to write checks.

• The difference between support and enabling
• Why financial help can quietly become a long-term arrangement
• How enmeshment can make boundaries difficult
• Protecting your retirement and financial future
• How supporting an adult child can create conflict between couples
• Setting clear boundaries with a realistic end date
• Helping an adult child build independence without withdrawing love

“I don't have to assume responsibility for my adult child's finances. I can embrace focusing on my own future and it doesn't mean I love my child any less.”

Failure to Launch: Why Your Twentysomething Hasn't Grown Up...and What to Do About It By Dr. Mark McConville See Amazon for price

I've Been Paying My Adult Son's Rent and Now I Have No Retirement – WTF Should I Do? Couples Counseling Chicago

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