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MONEY-SMART KIDS
A Good Reason to Go Home Again
by Janet Bodnar

Our 27-year-old son makes about $40,000 a year. He's paying off student loans and a car loan, and rent costs him $1,000 a month. He doesn't have much left over to save for a down payment on a house.

I'd like to help him, but my husband and I are close to retirement and I'm not sure we can afford to. I've considered asking him to move home for a year so that he could save money, but he's been on his own since college and I don't know if that's a good idea. Any thoughts?

This is a switch. Usually I give parents advice on how to get their kids to move out. But in your case I wouldn't object if you asked your son to move back in temporarily.

Don't even think about giving your son money if that would jeopardize your own retirement. At your stage of life, your own financial security comes first.

It would be best if your son could come up with the money on his own, and saving the $1,000 he's paying in rent every month would be one way to do it. He has already taken the initiative to live independently, so there seems to be little danger that he would take permanent root on your couch, especially if he wants to buy a place of his own.

You could charge him rent and put the money into a savings account on his behalf. He would still feel that he's paying his own way, and at the end of a year he'd have a tidy sum for a down payment.

If your son takes you up on your offer, be sure to set ground rules before he moves back in. Will you expect him to do work around the house? Would you mind if he stayed out all night? What's your policy on overnight guests? With young adults accustomed to living on their own, these issues can be even trickier than the financial arrangements of moving back home.

If your son nixes the idea, leave it up to him to find some other way to get the money. He could move to cheaper digs, look for a higher-paying job, moonlight after work or on weekends, or set up an automatic savings plan to build a down-payment fund. If he wants to buy a house badly enough, he'll find a way.