Its nationwide study shows 35% of over-65s have helped out their adult children or teenage grandchildren highlighting the continuing pressures on retirement income.
The research found 17% of the over-45s have helped out their teenage children but the proportion doubles when it comes to the over-65s who are handling requests for help from their adult children as well as from teenage grandchildren.
Among the 55 to 64-year-old age group the proportion who have bailed out children or teenage grandchildren for £2,000 or more was 26%, the study shows.
MetLife believe the research underlines the financial demands on retired people and the need for flexible retirement income solutions which can adapt to changing circumstances.
Dominic Grinstead, managing director, UK, MetLife said: “Helping out family is clearly important to many parents and grandparents and it appears that the requests for help don’t necessarily stop when you are retired.
“The worry is that grandparents are having to make sacrifices to help out and risking their own financial security to enable children and grandchildren to clear debts.
“Retirement income solutions need to be flexible enough to enable savers to cope with emergencies or financial shocks because it is guaranteed there will be surprises once you retire.”
MetLife passed the £4bn assets under management milestone a year after hitting the £3bn mark underlining the continued strong growth in the unit-linked guarantees market.
