'We had to put our life and goals on hold': YouTuber blasts parents who don't have a secure retirement as 'irresponsible' — says their kids will feel obligated to help. Does he have a point?

The clip was an excerpt from an episode of his YouTube series, Financial Audit, originally published in January.

Hammer argues that parents may not intentionally want to ask their kids for money when they get older, but if they haven’t saved enough for retirement their children may feel morally obligated to put “certain aspects of their life on hold” to help their parents.

The remarks got TikTok viewers’ fingers tapping.

One commenter shared: “My [mother-in-Law] is in this situation. Stopped working at 35 and now she’s 73 and essentially homeless living with us. We had to put our life and goals on hold.”

Most commenters seemed to be in agreement with Hammer, but a few were more sympathetic, saying life can be unpredictable.

“Parents don’t want to live with their kids,” one said. “The kids HAVE to become the adults.”

Retirement savings

Around 58.1% of baby boomers do not own a retirement account, according to census data from 2020, while 56.1% of Gen X are in the same boat, even as the oldest members of this cohort near retirement.

The situation isn’t much better for those who put money in the bank. According to a survey published in July from the non-profit Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, the median savings among baby boomers in their retirement accounts is just $289,000, while the median savings is $82,000 among Gen X. That’s simply not enough to live on during a decades-long retirement.