It’s difficult to see your adult children struggling when you’re doing fine and dandy financially. You don’t want to wait until you pass away to help them financially if you’re more than set for retirement and they’re struggling with debt and housing costs. The main gift that well-off parents give their struggling kids is the money for a down payment on a house. A young couple might be able to pay the monthly costs of homeownership, but cannot save for the initial deposit because they’re spending most of their money on rent. 

How does one show gratitude towards a parent who has already sacrificed so much raising you when they give such a generous gift? Life-changing gifts are difficult to show enough appreciation for because they can rarely be repaid. Of course, a parent paying off their kid’s student loan debt so they don’t have to live with it for the rest of their life isn’t doing it expecting to be repaid. They want what’s best for their kid and for their kid to be happy, and that’s thanks enough.