Robert Dowling

Like many parents with adolescent or grown children, you may want to give them a financial jumpstart on their lives. You might help them to get their first car. Pay for their college or grad school tuition. Get them a foot in the door of their first home by contributing toward the down payment. Give them seed money to start a business. If you can easily afford to help your child without affecting your own future wellbeing, you may want to make a financial gift with no strings attached. Keep in mind however, there are limitations regarding how much can be gifted to someone without incurring a gift tax, which is the obligation of the giver.

When married couple Mara, age 67 and Lou, age 70, started thinking about the next phase of their lives they knew change was in their future. After raising three children and taking care of a large home for many years, they were ready to move to a community where the property would be maintained for them. They realized that living independently for the rest of their lives, while appealing in theory, might not be realistic.