CNN Money has a thought-provoking article in its Boomer’s Guide to Financial Freedom Series called “What you owe your kids.”

The subhead: “Sure, you want to given the a boost in life. But for both your sake and your kids’, you have to cut the financial cord some time. Here’s how.”

A snippet:

By the time they’re done, the couple (Tony and Linda Carideo) figure they’ll have spent upwards of $250,000 staging their children for liftoff. For all their generosity, the Carideos are not multimillionaires. Their joint income is about $135,000 – he runs an investor relations business, she’s a teacher – and they have a retirement fund of $500,000, which may not be enough for them to live comfortably throughout their retirement.

Nevertheless, Tony Carideo is determined to do whatever he can for his kids, even though his parents didn’t help him much when he was starting out. “We’re living now in very different economic circumstances,” he says.

Lots of other parents these days apparently feel the same way. Research shows that moms and dads have been spending quite a bit on their adult kids in recent years. According to a 2004 University of Michigan study, parents provided about $2,200 a year in aid to children ages 18 to 34; upper-income parents gave more than $4,000 annually. Over the past 30 years, there’s been a 50% increase in the number of adult children living in their parents’ homes – which by itself increased parents’ outlays by nearly 20%.

What are the issues and circumstances you need to consider when financially helping adult children? Read the rest of the article here.