<prompt> Human: My two sons have student loan debt that is currently 74k combined. I have paid off all that I had cosigned 36k, but this was paid on behalf of one son. I am now focusing on my own debts which are car and house and the sons are paying their own all federal, mix of subsidized and unsub.The son I paid the private cosigned loans for lives independently, but the son who I didnt pay much on lives with me rent free.Legally I have no responsibility for these loans. Neither is asking me for help with their other loans, and even though they do not have high paying jobs, they are able to meet their obligations to pay their bills each month. I am not wealthy and will be retiring within 5 years, but I live fairly frugally and at present I have a big shovel for debt repayment.Please offer advice regarding the following possibilities:1. Ignore their debts.2. Pay off all their student loans after my debts are paid the cosigned son started off with a much higher student loan burden.3. Pay 36K of student loans for the son who did not have cosigned loans.4. Pay 36K of student loans and subtract a reasonable amount of rentliving expenses for the time he has been living with me.Thanks!  <response>: Im a firm believer that the first thing parents should do to help out their adult children financially is to make sure that the parents themselves will not become a financial burden to them in the future. This basically means securing the parents retirement not just eliminating debt but also having sufficient savings. Then and only then should they start thinking about giving any additional help to the children. 