Grandparents generous with money, but not advice, report says

Grandparents have been shelling out cash to help their grandchildren, but not advice to accompany the assistance, according to data from MetLife Mature Market Institute. The Westport, Conn.-based research institute, which is affiliated with New York-based MetLife Inc., performed an online poll of 1,077 adults over age 45 who have grandchildren under the age of 25. Fully 63% of the polled grandparents said that they have provided either financial assistance or monetary gifts to their grandchildren in the last five years. Those who donated gave an average of $8,661 in that period or an estimated $370 billion in total support. Forty percent of that aid went toward general financial support, while 26% covered educational expenses and 21% of the money went toward major life events. As the economy took a dive, grandparents become more generous: 26% said they were providing more assistance than in the past. However, much of that money comes without any advice: 68% of the polled adults said that they aren’t providing any financial guidance to their grandchildren. Of the remaining 32% who do advise their grandchildren, the most common suggestions have been to “start saving early in life” and “don’t get into too much debt.” “While [grandparents] clearly want to make sure their grandchildren are financially secure, only a small percentage of those polled said they have talked to their grandchildren about the importance of hard work, saving for a rainy day and intelligent use of credit,” Sandra Timmerman, director of the MetLife Mature Market Institute, said in a statement. The financial planning adages of “make sure you have basic financial security,” including insurance, and “don’t put all of your financial eggs in one basket,” were the third and fourth most popular suggestions, respectively. Lower-income grandparents are also more likely to talk to their grandchildren about avoiding large debts and maintaining basic financial security: 83% of the polled adults who make less than $35,000 a year have warned their grandchildren to avoid heavy debts. By comparison, 65% of those grandparents who earn between $50,000 and $74,999 per year have had this talk with their grandchildren.