If you are the parent of a recent graduate or of a child who will be graduating from college soon, chances are that you’re just as nervous about his or her future as he or she is. There is plenty to be nervous about, including a sluggish job market and those enormous student loans. You may want to offer some assistance to your now adult child, but you may wonder what would be the most helpful thing that you could do.
Here are a few ideas that might work for your family. As with any financial decision, discuss it thoroughly as a family so that everyone knows what is expected of whom, and why. Even if there are rules associated with the assistance that you give your graduate, he or she is likely to be very appreciative of the help. One situation in which it is essential to establish clear ground rules and expectations is when your graduate moves back into your home. More and more parents are offering this kind of assistance to their college graduates with the intentions of helping them to get on their feet. Clear rules and expectations about household and financial responsibilities can teach your graduate the life skills that they will need when they go out on their own. They can also prevent the situation from turning into “the good old days” where mom and dad did all of the cooking, cleaning, and laundry and bought everything that was needed. Your child is an adult now and it is reasonable to expect that he or she will shoulder a lot more responsibilities than he or she did before they left the nest to go to college.
Other ways in which you can help your graduate transition from college into the real world is to keep them insured under your health insurance for as long as you can. Many entry-level jobs are short on benefits and you can rest a little easier knowing that your child is still able to access regular medical, dental, and other types of care that they need. If you have the funds to spare, you could also set up a Roth IRA for your child. You can use it as a tool to help them understand retirement planning and saving, because it is never too early to become literate on that topic. Whatever you decide is the right way for your family to help your college graduate is sure to be appreciated in these tough economic times.