Have you delayed retirement because the obligation to raise and educate your children stayed way too long, long after college?

Don’t feel alone, and many Baby Boomers are experiencing precisely the same “retirement” that you might be facing. Many Baby Boomers have delayed retirement simply because of the need for a higher income, an income needed to continue with financial support for kids in their 20’s, 30’s and even older.

A recent report compiled by Pew Research found that historically wealthier parents will offer a helping hand to their children. Now that helping hand has evolved to parents of all financial sectors. Children are not moving through the system to obtain jobs paying enough to become self-sufficient. The report found that almost 40% or all parents helped their children in some financial manner. Furthermore, a USA Today report found that nearly 25% of millennial between age 30 and 35 were once again living in their parent’s home.

The excess expense to afford these children can be enough that a planned retirement might need to be postponed or even sent far into the future. The delay until retirement and the added burdens of adult children living in the household can be very stressful. Assuming the financial responsibility (wholly or partly) of an adult child can be an enormous factor when determining how funds are saved for retirement and the eventual launch date of retirement.

In many areas of our country, the cost of housing is beyond the grasp of many people, combined an insatiable demand for lower-income housing, and many adult children are faced with limited options. Add to this the college education cost many have chosen to use to complete college degrees, and the funds available are even more limited.

Many parents are faced with a tough decision, help, or flee. It is a wonderful feeling to be able to assist adult children, but when the results of that action invade or threaten retirement plans, the decision to help becomes tougher.

What is the real bottom line? As sad as it is to say, if financially helping an adult child imperils retirement savings, retirement dates or quality of retirement, then the answer has to be a firm no. Take time to evaluate your personal situation and explore other possible options for an adult child, decisions made out of guilt become hazardous as we age, and our need for financial stability increases.

Set rule and stick by them. Make rules with a rational approach; common sense thinking is usually the best thinking.