MORE than half of Malaysian parents in a survey are still supporting their adult children financially, The Edge reports citing a study by HSBC.

The report, The power of protection: facing the future, found that 57% of parents in Malaysia with children older than 18 are supporting them mostly in education (69% of parents), with daily living costs (41%), medical and dental care (38%), rent or accommodation costs (27%) and holidays (29%).

The findings put Malaysia in fourth position globally of parents who are financially supporting their children into adulthood. The study in Malaysia was conducted among 1,000 youths aged 25 between March and May.

Globally, the United Arab Emirates came out on top as the country with the highest percentage of parents financially supporting their adult children.

This will come at a cost, HSBC said in its report, as it meant that parents were spending an average 33% of their disposal income on their adult children and having less to spend on themselves or to prepare for retirement.

HSBC found that 67% of parents would prioritise their child’s tertiary education over their own retirement, while 30% withdrew from their own savings to support an adult child, and 17% incurred more debt.

“A significant minority of parents say their adult children would not manage at all financially if they themselves developed a long-term illness or disability (22%), if they had to significantly reduce their financial support to them (16%) or if they were unable to work (16%),” The Edge quoted HSBC as saying.

“Yet 54% of parents supporting grown-up children do not have insurance that would pay them if they had a serious illness or accident that prevented them from working, and 52% do not have life insurance.” – December 19, 2017.