When Should Parents Stop Hovering Over Their Childrens Finances?
According to Singletary, the answer is never. Singletary admitted that monitoring when and where her 14-year-old spends money is her “full-time job.” I thought about this exchange after receiving a rather long and frustrated note during a recent online discussion. The chat participant wondered at what point should parents back out of the financial business of their children. It’s a good question, and one that I’m sure is coming up frequently in an economy where more young adults are moving back home to lick financial wounds inflicted by a lost job, divorce, credit card debts or student loans. When does concern over your adult child’s money woes cross the line into oppressive hovering? Let’s look at the situation from the woman who wrote to me. “My parents and I are at an impasse,” she said. “After graduating college, I had minor credit card debt. I asked to move into my parents’ home after living on my own for a while to get rid of the debt, and to get other finances in order. I wanted
