In an era marked by housing unaffordability, insecure employment, and widening generational inequality, the rise of the boomerang child—adult children who return to or remain in the family home—has become more than a passing trend. It’s a defining feature of modern family life. According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, nearly one in five young adults aged 25 to 34 now lives with their parents. This shift, while often necessary, brings significant emotional, financial, and logistical challenges for all involved.
At the Academy of Life Planning, we believe these challenges can—and must—be transformed into opportunities for growth, connection, and collaboration. A holistic life planning approach, centred on family-focused facilitation, offers a way forward.
The Shared Home, the Shared Future
For many parents, the dream of downsizing, travelling, or reclaiming personal space in later life is indefinitely postponed. Adult children, meanwhile, wrestle with frustration, guilt, or financial powerlessness as they struggle to gain independence. Left unchecked, this dynamic can fracture relationships, drain resources, and erode wellbeing.
But what if instead of navigating these issues separately, families designed their futures together?
That’s the essence of family-focused life planning: not just planning for the individual, but planning with the family.
Facilitating Conversations That Matter
Read the Telegraph’s ‘I want to downsize but my adult child refuses to move out’. Take Laura, 63, who finds her downsizing dreams thwarted by the ongoing presence of her adult daughter and her daughter’s dog. Or Shakila, 27, an aspiring musician grateful to be at home, yet burdened by the emotional toll of financial dependence. These aren’t merely economic dilemmas; they are deeply human stories of sacrifice, hope, and strained communication.
The role of the life planner is to create a neutral, compassionate space where all voices are heard, and shared values emerge. This is where the transformative power of a joint family session comes in. By involving both parents and children in co-designing a “favourite future,” a planner helps bridge gaps in understanding and discover common ground.
Aligning Aspirations: From Conflict to Collaboration
A well-facilitated family life planning session aims to:
- Clarify individual goals: What does each family member want for their future?
- Uncover shared values: What matters most to the family as a whole—security, freedom, legacy, harmony?
- Identify mutual benefits: Can cohabitation be restructured as a strategic partnership, not a burden?
- Create actionable strategies: How might the household finances, living arrangements, and responsibilities be redesigned to support everyone’s progress?
For instance, a family might decide to treat the home as a multi-generational asset, with agreed contributions from adult children toward long-term goals. Or a parent’s desire to downsize might prompt the child to accelerate a savings plan with tangible benchmarks and support from a life planner.
The GAME Plan Approach
At the Academy, we use the GAME Plan model—Goals, Actions, Means, Execution—to guide families through this process. This model, grounded in cyclical and ancient wisdom, helps reframe life planning not as a linear path to retirement, but as a dynamic, co-evolving journey.
In the boomerang child scenario, the GAME Plan might look like this:
- Goals: Financial independence for the child; downsizing and lifestyle enhancement for the parent.
- Actions: Joint budgeting, part-time income strategies, clear timelines.
- Means: Reallocation of household costs, shared investment in skill-building or business development.
- Execution: Regular check-ins, milestone reviews, and emotional support.
Reimagining Family Wealth
True wealth isn’t just about money—it’s about emotional resilience, mutual respect, and a sense of purpose. Families that co-create life plans foster intergenerational understanding, reduce conflict, and build psychological safety. What starts as a necessity—living together—can evolve into a chosen collaboration.
We must stop framing boomerang children as obstacles to financial planning and instead treat them as co-creators in a broader wealth strategy—one that encompasses financial, human, and social capital.
A Call to Life Planners
Family-focused life planning isn’t about fixing problems—it’s about facilitating transformation. As planners, we must be skilled not only in finances but in emotional intelligence, mediation, and values-based coaching.
The future is cohabited, intergenerational, and interconnected. Let’s help families navigate it with compassion, clarity, and courage.
Academy of Life Planning 