Before helping an adult child buy a home, ask these questions
Clarify whether help is a gift, loan, or shared borrowing; check the child's ongoing budget and protect your own reserve and retirement.
Articles and explainers
Practical money guides
Answers to everyday questions about housing, income, debt, wealth, and family finances.
An inheritance is not a retirement plan
Treat a possible inheritance as uncertain until it is actually available, and build a retirement plan that does not require someone else's future estate.
A cheaper house can mean a more expensive life
Compare commute, insurance, taxes, utilities, repairs, and access to work and care before treating a lower listing price as a lower household cost.
A car payment is not the cost of owning a car
Budget for insurance, fuel, repairs, registration, and the loan, not just the monthly figure a dealer offers.