How long should parents continue to help foot some costs for their adult kids? As a parent with two daughters in their early 20s, I read with interest about the results of this Bankrate survey on financial independence, which asked the average age that Americans think the kids should start paying for their own bills, including car payments, cellphone bills and student loans. An alarming trend from the survey: 50% of Americans say they have sacrificed or are sacrificing their own retirement savings in order to help their adult children financially. Read the Bankrate article here.