It’s natural for parents to want to support their children, even as those children reach adulthood. But in tough economic times, parents must remember to look after their own financial well-being as well. Adult children may struggle financially, but they have many more years of full earning potential ahead of them than their parents do. So, parents need to be careful about jeopardizing their own financial situation to support adult kids.

Mark Patterson, a writer for usnews.com, shared the following two tips as part of a recent article on “attitude adjustments necessary for retirement success.”

1. Your retirement is more important than your kids’ college education.

2. Your retirement is more important than your kids’ lifestyle.

To view the full text of the tips, plus the three additional attitude adjustments Patterson suggests, click here.