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Christina Newberry was a "boomerang kid" before the term was even in use. That was 16 years ago, when she was 21.
After growing up in White Rock, B.C., Ms. Newberry completed her bachelor's degree in English and anthropology in Victoria and, like many of her friends, moved back home to figure out what to do next. That was just the first time she returned to her parents' place.
Ms. Newberry went on to study journalism at Vancouver's Langara College, and boomeranged again at 29 when she was going through a divorce.
The freelance writer, now 37 and living in Vancouver, later put her own experiences to practical use, writing The Hands-on Guide to Surviving Adult Children Living at Home. She says the best piece of advice for parents welcoming a grown child back home is this: Put an agreement in writing beforehand.
"Always put it in writing," Ms. Newberry says. "This is important. Sit down ahead of time and work out not only financial agreements but other agreements related to behaviour and expectations. That's because once you're living in the situation, if things don't go as you hoped, it's very easy for everyone to remember that conversation differently."
It's a conversation that seems to be happening in more and more homes across the country. Often with a degree, a heavy debt load and poor job prospects, slightly more than 42 per cent of adults aged 20 to 29 are living with their parents, according to the 2011 Statistics Canada census. That figure includes those who never left and is well above 1981's level of nearly 27 per cent.
Although clearly not a unique scenario, what makes it potentially fraught is that parents risk eroding their retirement funds to support their boomerang kids. They may need to delay downsizing to accommodate their children or work longer than they'd planned to cover adult-size expenses.
Once they give up the title of empty-nesters, even if only temporarily, older Canadians need to be sure to protect their own nest egg.
"If young people have debt, they have their whole working career ahead of them to pay it off," Ms. Newberry says. "If you're nearing retirement, that's not the time in your life to be taking on debt.
"A family needs to sit down ahead of time and work out a budget," she adds. "The best thing parents can do is look at what their existing costs are in terms of paying for their home and things like heat, electricity, insurance and food, then estimate how those costs will be impacted by having another person living at home.
"It's easy for adult children to go in expecting that it's not going to cost anything or to be completely unaware of what the costs are."
Adult kids should make some sort of regular contribution, Ms. Newberry says, whether it's called rent or it's simply a fixed monthly sum for bills and groceries. "I think it's important that there are monthly responsibilities to cover costs or offset costs," Ms. Newberry says. "In the real world, grown-ups have monthly financial responsibilities, so it's important they see that."
If grown children haven't landed a job or are underemployed and don't have money to chip in, there are other ways they can support the household. "If the adult child isn't working, then they have time to work off their contribution: cleaning gutters or painting the shed," Ms. Newberry says. "There are always things that need to be done around a house."
Paying their own way, whether through cash or chores, in fact, can be a terrific educational opportunity, says Carla Hindman, Visa Canada's director of financial education.
"You want to have a conversation upfront about kids contributing to the costs of running a house," Ms. Hindman says. "I had no idea when I was a student of all the costs of running a home. I understood things like mortgage payments, but I didn't know about all the other expenses. We just had to have our eavestroughs cleaned, and I can tell you all these things add up.
"This is an opportunity for you to model good financial behaviour and to show that there aren't any free rides in life," she adds. "This is a really good opportunity to help them with developing a budget."
Once they're back on their feet, Ms. Hindman also suggests helping boomerang kids set up a monthly savings plan via automatic withdrawals.
Having clear goals and timelines can help a family successfully manage a boomerang household. Instead of allowing grown children to come back indefinitely, Ms. Hindman says to help them determine what their goals are: Are they saving for a down payment for a home? Are they intent on paying off student debt? How much money do they need to save or pay back? And how long will it take to achieve those aims?
"It can be challenging to have no clear end point," Ms. Hindman says. "What's a reasonable term for your child to meet their goals? There are a lot of variables, and things change along the way, but talking about it upfront and setting expectations can be a lot better than leaving things open-ended. It's important to have a goal for why you're at home, and once that goal is accomplished it's time to go."
Ottawa financial adviser Suzanne Najim, with Assante Capital Management Ltd., urges parents to avoid the temptation to bail out their kids, especially if it's going to overextend their own finances.
"Do not pay off the debts of the child," Ms. Najim says. "If the child is in debt, it should be their responsibility to pay their own way. There is no need for people to sacrifice their own retirement to cover the debts of their children."
Ms. Najim also suggests parents set expectations around their kids' employment.
"Do not let your child wait for the 'perfect' job," Ms. Najim says. "Ensure they are working at whatever they can get while they are looking for [more suitable] work. Staying out of the work force is a dangerous cycle. Working at a job they don't like will encourage them either to go back to school to get retrained or to keep the job hunt up."