Our kids are college graduates, but we're paying their rent. We understand what they're up against.
A parent discusses the intentional decision to continue paying rent for their adult college-graduate children. The author frames this as a necessary strategy to provide a financial safety net that they themselves lacked as first-generation college graduates.
Why it matters
It highlights the evolving nature of intergenerational wealth transfer and the economic challenges facing young adults in the current financial landscape.
The author (second from left) said she and her husband are paying rent for their 20-something kids to help give them a strong foundation for their futures. Courtesy of Cherith Glover Fluker. My children are college graduates. I'm still paying their rent, and I'm OK with that. A college degree may be an important step toward financial stability, but it takes time to accumulate and transfer wealth. We cover rent, but the help comes with conversations, actionable planning, and an end date. When our youngest child graduated from college, my husband and I were overwhelmed with pride. There we were, two first-generation college graduates who had somehow managed to get both of our children through college. But right next to that pride was another emotion: fear. We weren't afraid that they wouldn't be successful; we've always believed in them.
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