You may be thinking: “My kids have their finances, and I have mine. How could they possibly affect my life?” But adult children can sometimes affect your financial life, even if right now it seems like they’re on their own.

Here’s an example: Your child lost their job and is having trouble making their rent payments. They try to cut back on spending, but they still need money for the basics like food and gas. The biggest issue was that they didn’t have an emergency fund to cover their expenses should they lose their job. So now they must use credit cards to cover their expenses while they search for a new job, and as the debt piles up, so does the high APR rate interest. By the time they find a new job, it could take them years to get out of debt properly without help. So, you step in and give them enough to cover their debt so their finances aren’t ruined for much of their life. However, this costs you quite a lot of money, and you cover their debt with funds that you could have put toward retirement savings.

In this example, you can see how your child’s financial missteps can affect you and can hit your finances pretty hard. You may be thinking that your adult child is good with money, but do you really have a clear sense of how much they make a year? Do you have a clear idea of how much they spend day-to-day? Do you have a clear idea of how much they have in savings? If your answer to any of these questions is no, then it’s not impossible for your kid to make some bad decisions when it comes to money. They could end up costing you and your savings big time.

Here’s our suggestion: talk to a financial professional with your family, especially your adult children. A financial professional can help loop your kids into your overall financial plan and your timeline for retirement and generational wealth preservation. That professional can help them understand how to properly manage their finances in a way that is relevant to their demographic and financial profile and can adjust as they get older. Working together as a family with a knowledgeable guide can help you build a plan that is personalized to you, and it can make sure that everyone is on the same page about finances.

If you realize your retirement and personal financial plan doesn’t account for your family members and might be at risk, contact us today to take the first step towards securing your and your family’s financial future.