Most teenagers can’t wait to move out of their parents’ house and start living independently, but it turns out, many don’t realize that also means paying their own bills. New research suggests that even decades after leaving home, a lot of adults still aren’t able to do that.
As we move closer to the 250th anniversary of America’s independence, one in five U.S. adults admit they don’t expect to be financially independent … ever. That’s one of the findings from Northwestern Mutual’s new 2026 Planning & Progress Study, which is based on responses from 4,375 adults across the country. According to the research, real financial independence is still out of reach for a lot of Americans:
At this point, 42% of U.S. adults still depend on their parents for financial support.
That includes more than half of millennials (53%), a third of Gen X, and 72% of Gen Z.
Surprisingly, 17% of baby boomers still feel financially dependent on their parents.
The average age that respondents achieved or expect to achieve financial independence is 37. That’s nearly 20 years after the average American graduates from high school.
Across the board, more than half (56%) of all adults believe it’s somewhat or much harder to achieve financial independence now than it was for previous generations.
Two-thirds of baby boomers (66%) and 60% of Gen Xers agree.
Fortunately, younger Americans feel much more confident they’ll be able to be self-sufficient overtime. Among those who are still financially dependent on their parents, 82% of Gen Zers believe they’ll be able to support themselves one day.
Only 56% of millennials and 51% of Gen Xers agree.
"This is a massive wake-up call for America," says Jeff Sippel, chief strategy officer at Northwestern Mutual. "Boomers and Gen X have memories of their parents' retirement – grounded in defined benefits and pensions – and see that their path will look very different.” He adds that it’s encouraging to see Gen Z “bringing such optimism to their financial journey” and points out that they “have something valuable on their side: time.”
Source: Northwestern Mutual
photo: GETTY