ADVICE FOR AMERICANS ON HOW TO HANDLE INTER-GENERATIONAL FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONS, FREE FROM THE METLIFE MATURE MARKET INSTITUTE
Westport, CT, July 25, 2012
The MetLife Mature Market Institute has released a series of planning tips,Preparing for Family Financial Responsibilities Across the Generations, to help Americans navigate family financial relationships. A follow-up to the organization's recent study, Multi-Generational Views on Family Financial Obligations, the document, available for download online, helps people determine how their sense of responsibility or desire to help children or parents translates into action. Can you or should you help your children or grandchildren financially? When do you stop supporting an adult child? Do your parents need financial assistance?
"We've prepared these tips to help people prioritize their family responsibilities and to learn how to meet them," said Sandra Timmermann, Ed.D., director of the MetLife Mature Market Institute. "In our study, we determined that people provide financial assistance to family members out of a combination of love and need. There is agreement that parents should support children through their college years, help with tuition (90%) and step in to provide financial assistance during an emergency – not of the child's doing. But, they stop short at paying all college tuition costs if they're particularly high. There is also a consensus against bailing adult children out of debt when the debt is from overspending.
