My Adult Kid Lives at Home: Should I Charge Them Board?

By: Joni Boyd

If your adult kids are working fulltime and living at home, you have the perfect opportunity to help them learn some healthy financial habits.

That’s the advice of Pete Burrows, of Lower Russell & Farr Chartered Accountants. Pete said his older clients often ask him for his advice on this point.

“I think [paying board or rent] teaches people responsibility, it teaches them life lessons, you know, budgeting,” Pete said.

He emphasised the importance of learning to cultivate financial independence and accountability: “It’s a preparation for the big wide ugly world when you get out there.”

“I think [paying board or rent] teaches people responsibility, it teaches them life lessons, you know, budgeting.”

It’s also important to start shaping their perception of personal value and contribution within familial and societal structures.

It’s crucial to see financial responsibility not merely as a burden but as a pathway to mature financial understanding, Pete explained.

“The best lesson I can teach my kids is how to be responsible.”

This early grounding can lead to more informed financial decisions in the future, benefiting both individuals and their broader communities as they learn to value their input.