Parents and adult children not in sync

A recent American study into intra-family generational finances has found that adult children and their parents struggle to communicate on key financial topics that include retirement planning, providing care for elderly parents and inheritance strategies.

The study, by Fidelity Investments®, analysed levels of disagreement and miscommunication between parents and their adult children on a range of sensitive topics, and found that adult children are not only anxious about their own finances, but also their parents’ future health, retirement security and estate plan.

Highlighting the vast disconnect, the study revealed 97% of parents and children disagree on whether a child will take care of his or her parents if they become ill.

Major miscommunication also exists when discussing inheritance and estate planning. In fact, children are underestimating the value of their parent’s estate by more than $100,000 on average.

Additionally, neither side is effectively communicating about retirement readiness. As a result, a quarter of children believe they will have to help their parents financially in retirement, while nearly all (97%) of parents say they will not need help.