Seventy-five percent of Americans say they’ve delayed at least one major life milestone because of their financial situation, according to a new TD Bank survey of 2,000 U.S. adults.
The delays skew heavily by generation and by whether someone has kids at home, and the same survey found families are leaning on each other financially, in both directions, to help close the gap.
Key Points
- 75% of U.S. adults have put off a major milestone due to money, per TD Bank’s survey, conducted by Talker Research between June 29 and July 13, 2026.
- Gen Z is delaying the most, at 85%, followed by Millennials (79%), Gen X (66%) and Baby Boomers (57%).
- Parents supporting kids under 18 are far more likely to delay milestones: 84%, compared with 67% of adults without dependents.
- The most commonly delayed goals: paying off debt (23%), travel (21%), buying a car (17%), buying a home (17%) and saving for retirement (15%).
- 67% of respondents say they’ve received financial help from family or close contacts, and 71% say they’ve given that kind of help themselves, per TD Bank.
The generational pattern repeats on the support side. 77% of Gen Z respondents say they’ve received family financial help, compared with 71% of Millennials, 60% of Gen X and 45% of Boomers, meaning the same generation delaying the most milestones is also leaning hardest on family to get by, according to the survey.
Most of that help goes toward keeping the lights on rather than funding big purchases. The top reasons people cited for receiving family money were everyday expenses or bills (24%) and emergency support (21%), with credit card debt, rent or mortgage payments, and car payments each cited by 15% of recipients. Nearly a third of people who received help got less than $1,000, while 17% say they’ve received $25,000 or more from family over time.
“The survey suggests money isn’t just influencing financial decisions; it’s influencing relationship dynamics, major life milestones and overall confidence,” said Marc Womack, TD Bank’s head of Client Experience, Strategy and Governance, in the company’s release.
Ashley Weeks, a wealth strategist at TD Wealth, framed the findings as a call to plan rather than panic. “The survey shows that while many Americans face real financial pressures, they’re also focused on taking meaningful steps toward a stronger financial future,” she said.
The two-way flow of family support, in which most respondents have both given and received it, suggests financial pressure inside families runs in both directions rather than simply from older generations down to younger ones.
