- Alex Gonzalez, aged 56, welcomed two of his grown-up kids back into his house following their graduation from college.
- He waives their rent payments but requests that they instead set aside that money to accumulate a down payment for purchasing a house.
- He wants some additional space and his expenses have gone up, but he appreciates the extra time spent with his children.
This essay, presented as told, is derived from an interview with Alex Gonzalez, aged 56, who works as a financial advisor at Thrivent—a money-consulting service—in Bloomington, Minnesota, which is part of the greater Minneapolis area. The discussion has been condensed and clarified during editing.
Gonzalez and his team recently released a report on the rising numbers observed. grown-up offspring who have returned to live with their parents owing to unaffordable housing markets and student loan debt.
We have three grown kids, and two of them have boomeranged after college .
One individual is 26 and the other is 22. Our daughter, who is 26, returned home approximately two years ago, and her younger brother came back around the same timeframe.
I would describe their actions taken towards going back home as forward-thinking.
My daughter experienced a shift in her relationships, and we encouraged her to focus on moving forward with her life and preparing for future opportunities. Meanwhile, my son found himself in a living arrangement that wasn’t ideal. When his lease ended, he decided to part ways as his friends pursued separate paths. His primary objective then became saving funds for buying a house. That’s exactly what they’re each pursuing at present.
The pandemic brought about several economic difficulties. When I consider my daughter’s initial job situation, it fell short of her expectations and plans. Additionally, I observe how the low-interest rates during the pandemic aimed to bolster the economy but instead led to inflation, causing further issues. increase in housing prices It's deeply entwined economically.
The ripple effects are numerous. The housing supply is limited, which increases demand. Additionally, current homeowners hesitate to relocate due to favorable interest rates; thus, they refrain from selling since they believe they will secure a new mortgage under similar conditions. higher interest rates Therefore, many elements come into play.
I also stayed at home following my time in college.
I was boomerang kid.
I completed my degree in 1990, during which time there was an economic downturn.
Finding employment proved difficult, so I returned home for roughly three months following my graduation from college. This period posed an emotional challenge. Although demanding, it motivated me to leave as soon as possible.
I can’t say that my kids have had much enjoyment from this either—I recall feeling the same way at their age and having an intense desire to leave home. While there are significant gaps between our generations, I believe they also yearn to progress with their own lives.
I believe they are quite content. Certainly, they might desire some personal space and perhaps have preferences for certain rules, but overall, I think they are largely satisfied.
The space is more cramped, and expenses have increased.
We intentionally downsized When our youngest headed to college, we sold our single-family house and relocated to a townhome.
We deliberately considered this aspect, thinking, "We're likely to experience some reverse culture shock." We understood that our children could go through a transitional phase.
We possess four bedrooms; out of these, three comply with the regulations for being considered proper bedrooms. Therefore, we have enough room to proceed as planned, albeit in slightly more cramped conditions than initially anticipated for an extended duration.
Utility prices have risen. This is the truth. In my opinion, these expenses have climbed by 10% to 15%.
As the number of people in your household increases, so does the consumption of utilities, groceries, garbage production, and recyclables — essentially, all the associated logistics ramp up.
We request our children to assist with grocery shopping. Their purchases include items such as laundry detergent along with various groceries. Our younger son specifically takes care of buying the laundry detergent. Upon noticing its high cost, he expressed his dissatisfaction, to which we responded, “Yep, this is just part of life, kiddo.”
We've had to postpone several home improvement projects simply because they're occupying the spaces. Our plan was to convert one of the bedrooms into a guest room, but we haven't gotten around to setting it up yet.
We plan to prepare my son's bedroom for potential grandchildren in the future. This would require quite a bit of renovation, which isn’t possible at this time, naturally.
We're anticipating more breathing space in the subsequent phase.
We don't charge rent, but our kids are saving to buy
Our deadline, essentially, isn't about time; it's focused on achieving goals.
Their upcoming living arrangement will probably involve buying a house—together as a pair.
My spouse and I aren't imposing rent on them. , however, we request that they deposit the rent money that would typically go towards us into a savings account that is accumulating funds for them. home down payment .
They learned some of those disciplines from an early age, and now we're just continuing to reinforce them. There is none of this playing-video-games-in-the-basement kind of thing.
They are employed full-time; they contribute to their 401(k) plans; they sign up for company benefits. They manage their individual health insurance. They cover the costs of their mobile phones.
They're coming to understand that all these costs in life add up, making life itself costly. We’re instructing them about financial planning.
Every aspect of life has its advantages and disadvantages.
We have reconsidered the children who still live at home as a gift. It feels wonderful that our grown-up kids enjoy spending time with us. Together, we engage in social activities and go on family vacations.
It represents a distinctive phase in life where we have the chance to rediscover our adult children from another perspective and savor this moment together as they accumulate funds for their upcoming journey in life.
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