By Ryan Derousseau, U.S. News & World Report – Excerpt below; click to view full article.
Sheila Padden, an advisor at Padden Financial Planning in Chicago, suggests that couples with two paychecks try to live on just one while putting the other in savings.
While that may not be for everyone, it’s a tactic to keep the savings structured, even after the kids are gone.
Financially break away from the kids, if possible. One issue Padden sees often from her own clients is how difficult it is for parents to truly break away from their kids financially. Even when the children have high-paying jobs, she’ll see clients continue to pay for the child’s cell phones or auto insurance.
“It’s really difficult to not support your children,” she says. “It’s really better for them to let them live under their own salary.”
These small payments can also add up, preventing parents from saving as much as they can. And it’s worth doing so, since, in a few years, those children could boomerang themselves back into mom and dad’s home.
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