A quarter of survey respondents said they took withdrawals from retirement accounts to channel funds to adult kids, and about 20 percent report delaying retirement. (Photo: Shutterstock)
The 173 million Americans who count themselves as parents are spending twice as much supporting adult children as they are on saving for retirement. That's according to a new study by Merrill Lynch and Age Wave, a private research think tank that explores the impact of aging on the economy.
About $250 billion of elective contributions to retirement plans are made annually. But parents are spending $500 billion on adult children age 18 to 34.
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