Advisers Provide Wealth Management Tips for the Sandwich Generation
Financial planners offer advice for the “sandwich generation” on balancing their own needs while helping their children and aging parents.
For those of a certain age, the term “sandwich generation” might call to mind comic-strip character Dagwood Bumstead, known for his love of both family and elephantine sandwiches. But it refers to a real and growing phenomenon: the generation of adults whose financial resources and attention are split among themselves, their children and their aging parents.
This family dynamic is strikingly different than what people experienced in decades past.
“Before we got to this idea of the sandwich generation, it was you going out and just taking care of yourself,” says Sarah Daya, central division lead for wealth planning and advice at J.P. Morgan Wealth Management. “Then when kids came into the picture, it was like, ‘OK, we’ll take care of the kids until we send them off to college.’ … What we’re seeing more and more is college kids that maybe are coming back and living at home. We also have more elderly folks who maybe can’t take care of themselves.”
With older adults attaining increased longevity and sometimes needing long-term care—as well as young people encountering uncertain paths to independence—members of the sandwich generation need to plan carefully and prepare for the unexpected, financial planning experts say.
“It’s forcing families to have more proactive conversations,” says David Brinkman, a partner in the Columbus office of Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors who also is a CPA, Certified Financial Planner and Chartered Financial Analyst.
“These are always delicate conversations to begin with—anything related to money,” Brinkman says. “Now, when you’re going to be accountable for your parents, it’s really hard if you don’t have a full understanding of what their finances are.”
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Experts agree that an essential starting point is for these individuals to fully assess the finances, starting with their own.
“I oftentimes run into clients who have all of these lingering accounts that are out there,” says Daya, such as people who switched jobs and have multiple retirement accounts, or who use several banks. “That’s exactly where I’d start,” she says. “Let’s take an inventory of what we’ve got … and then what are the expenses.”
The same financial picture should be compiled for aging parents, especially in situations when long-term care might become necessary. “For somebody in the sandwich generation, you’ve probably got to build out two, maybe three balance sheets—one for yourself, the second one for your parents, and then the kids … [which] is relatively straightforward, if [the kids] even have any assets to begin with,” Brinkman says.
The process requires initiating talks about money that can be blunt but don’t have to be awkward. Daya suggests asking parents whether they have a financial plan, or when such a plan was last updated, as a good starting point. She also recommends taking simple steps toward getting more involved.
“It’s like, ‘Do you want me to write out this check for you? Do you want me to set up direct bill pay for you?’ ” Daya says. “A lot of times, parents are more receptive, especially these days I think, to having these conversations.”
Once an accounting has been made, those in the sandwich generation may need to prioritize their financial commitments. Daya considers saving for one’s own retirement to be nonnegotiable. “Those are going to be the funds that they have to rely on,” she says.
On the other hand, “support goals” for offspring or aging parents can be financed in multiple ways. “A support goal could be something like paying for college,” she says. “While that’s important, there are going to be other strategies that we can use to fund college expenses.”
Daya also suggests building a strong emergency fund and utilizing flexible spending and dependent care spending accounts, which set aside pretax money for expenses related to day care, elder care or health care.
When it comes to aging parents, Adam Koós of Libertas Wealth Management Group Inc. suggests looking into long-term care insurance. The firm’s president and senior financial adviser recommends hybrid policies, “where the owners … can purchase a joint policy that covers them,” he says. “If they die and they never need long-term care, then the kids or grandkids or both get a tax-free death benefit.” If the insurance is needed for a nursing home or memory-care center, then “the death benefit that would otherwise have been paid to the next generation is accelerated and used while they’re living,” Koós says.
J.P. Morgan’s Daya recommends that grown children help their parents preserve the wealth they have earned by educating them about common schemes, including phishing and romance scams. “We’ve seen a lot more targeted schemes towards seniors,” Daya says. “A lot of times we get those phone calls, like, ‘There’s a loved one in trouble—can you transfer money in this amount?’ ”
The designation of a trusted contact person on a senior’s accounts is one tool to prevent fraud; others include credit freezes, adding grown children to accounts and keeping close tabs on account activity. “That may result in paying for some nominal software that downloads your transactions and makes it easy to view in one spot,” Brinkman says.
Experts also say that hiring a financial adviser can be helpful to everyone concerned.
“You’ve got three stakeholders in this sandwich, and they all have different objectives and desires,” Brinkman says. “Even the most highly functioning family … doesn’t necessarily always proactively talk about every topic.”
Peter Tonguette is a freelance writer.
This story appears in the Winter 2026 issue of Columbus CEO. Subscribe now.
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