Financial planning for one is daunting enough, but planning for three generations of people can be downright overwhelming.
Yet, it’s exactly what tens of millions of “sandwich generation” Americans who simultaneously take care of kids and parents need to think about, financial experts said. Otherwise, they risk – as many have already experienced – being financially drained as well as emotionally and physically exhausted.
Last year, a survey of 1,024 Americans ages 40 to 59 by retirement services company Athene showed almost 75% of respondents in the sandwich generation had adjusted their retirement goals to support their adult children and aging relatives. They reduced expenses, delayed retirement or dipped into their retirement savings while others planned not to retire at all, it said.
“It’s a very, very challenging environment – paying for kids or adult kids and aging parents,” said Miklos Ringbauer, a certified public accountant and founder of MiklosCPA Inc. Caring for people day to day without a plan, “you hurt yourself, your own future and your own wealth.”
As usual, the best time to design a plan is early, before an event like a parent falling gravely ill happens, experts said. Early planning always offers people more tools and more flexibility to protect you and loved ones.
