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How your children are draining your retirement funds
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A recent study from Hearts & Wallets, a research platform for investment and retirement solutions, found that baby boomers who had adult children not dependent upon them are two and a half times more likely to be retired that those with dependents. - photo by Tyler Stahle
For the modern baby boomer, having your millennial children move in with you can bring a sense of youth and vitality. But adjusting to this new liefstyle isn't all fun and games. In fact, new research says taking care of your children after they've graduated from college may be sucking your retirement reservoir dry.

A recent study from Hearts & Wallets, a research platform for investment and retirement solutions, found that baby boomers who had adult children not dependent upon them are two and a half times more likely to be retired than those who have adult kids living off support from mom and dad.

The research, which was based off a survey from over 5,000 American households, found that only 21 percent of baby boomers supporting adult children are fully retired significantly lower than the 52 percent of baby boomers not supporting their adult children who were retired.

The study comes at an interesting time, as more and more millennial adults are moving back in with parents.

In fact, a 2013 Pew Research study noted that 36 percent of Americans between 18 and 30 were living at home at the end of 2012. Considering that only 32 percent of adult children lived at home in 1968, the 4 percent spike of late represents a noticeable shift for millions of todays rising generation.

While its easy to say that millennials who move in with parents are simply too lazy to get a job and make something of their lives, Jordan Weissmann of Slate says there's more to the story.

In the past several months, a handful of studies have suggested that the reasons grown children are returning to the nest in greater numbers than ever may have less to do with the rise and fall of the unemployment rate, and more to do with lasting changes to young adult life, such as the growth of student debt and delayed marriage," he wrote.

According to the Institute for College Access and Success, todays college students are graduating with an average of $30,000 in student loan debt. Such heaping amounts of debt scare many college graduates right back into their parents basement a trend that frightens many experts, as these millennials are held back from joining the economic mainstream.

If you never get into the whole U.S. economic system because youve been held back by too much early debt, said Ted Beck, CEO of the National Endowment for Financial Education, to USA Today, we could have a lot of people who just never really come anywhere near their potential.

And delaying entry into the mainstream economic cycle not only hurts millennials, but causes pressure and anxiety for boomers, too.

Boomers who support their adult children are 25 percent more likely to have heightened financial anxiety than their peers (other boomers), said Chris Brown of Hearts & Wallets. Those with grown kids who dont support them are sleeping better at night.

This could be because of the uncertainty many parents experience when they welcome their adult children back home.

The big question for these people is: How long are they going to be supporting their adult children? If the child is unemployed or underemployed and cant pay his or her bills, you dont know how long that will last, and that adds to the stress, he said.

Brown noted that boomers who are still supporting their adult children say their biggest financial concern was saving enough for retirement. Interestingly enough, boomers not supporting children said theyre not even slightly concerned about retirement savings.