How long should parents support their adult child? I know there is no right answer to that question and I know that each situation must be looked at differently. I was shocked, however, to read in a recent Money magazine article that parents polled believe their children should be self-sufficient by 25, those adult children said they thought they’d be self-sufficient by 27. Really….. 25 and 27??? What happened to raising your kids to be self-sufficient adults (which last I checked was 18)?

I completely understand being there to help out in “times of need”, but did you know that 36% of the parents that were supporting adult children had no idea where their money was going – they simply gave it. 26% of those parents took on additional debt, 13% delayed buying a home or taking a vacation and another 7% postponed retirement, all to support their adult children. I am shocked by these statistics.

I won’t win the “Parent of the Year” Award based on this survey. I believed adult children should work for what they have. If they want more, they will work harder. I also believe they will feel a sense of accomplishment and pride if they do things on their own. Maybe I’m just clueless. Isn’t that the way our generation was raised? I saw something recently that read along these lines ……. “It’s not what you do for your children that matters — it’s what you teach your children to do for themselves.” That really sums it up.