Retirement saving is hard enough when you’re just trying to take care of yourself. Add in kids, and it gets tougher. Add in aging parents, and it can feel impossible. According to the 2025 Annual Retirement Study from the Allianz Center for the Future of Retirement, a quarter of Americans are caught in exactly that spot, caring for children under 18 while also supporting their parents.
This “sandwich generation” is more than just a buzzword. It’s a financial reality for millions, especially millennials (46%) and Gen Xers (18%). And while we like to think about retirement planning as a straight-line path, save, invest, grow, retire, the truth is that life rarely works that way.
The Dual Burden
The numbers are sobering: 78% of those in the sandwich generation provide their parents with physical, financial, or emotional support. That’s on top of caring for their own kids. Nearly three in four say it’s difficult to juggle all of their financial needs and goals under this dual responsibility.
And the cost? A staggering 59% of sandwich generation Americans say they’ve reduced or stopped contributing to their retirement savings. Seventy percent say it has significantly impacted their retirement plans. Translation: today’s caregiving is tomorrow’s retirement shortfall.
The Retirement Ripple
When you press pause on saving for retirement, the compounding effect works against you. Skipping contributions for even a few years doesn’t just mean less money saved—it means missing out on the growth those contributions could have generated.
The Human Side
Let’s be clear, this isn’t about selfishness. Nobody chooses to be in the sandwich generation. Most people don’t expect to be financially supporting their parents while also raising kids, but 60% of respondents said that’s exactly where they’ve found themselves. It’s a situation filled with love, duty, and guilt, but also filled with financial strain.
I know the feeling of walking on eggshells when trying to juggle multiple responsibilities at once. When you’re sandwiched, every dollar feels like it has two or three claims on it. It’s overwhelming, and most say it feels like a full-time job.
Finding a Balance
So what’s the takeaway? You can’t abandon your retirement savings entirely. If you do, you may be condemning your future self, and perhaps even your children, to an even heavier financial burden down the road.
This is where a financial advisor can earn their keep. Not as a magician, but as someone who can help balance competing needs. That might mean adjusting contributions, exploring risk management tools, or simply creating a strategy that acknowledges the realities of caregiving while keeping retirement savings alive.
The Bottom Line
The sandwich generation is being pulled in two directions, and it’s stretching retirement security thin. But the hard truth is this: if you don’t take care of your own financial future, no one else will.
You can’t stop being a parent. You can’t stop being a child. But you can put yourself on the list of people you care for, because if you don’t, the entire foundation crumbles.
