KNOW: Seventy-two percent of Australian parents admit to subsidizing their adult children financially. But the economic crisis has made parents less inclined to indulge their offspring. They are focusing more upon paying down their own debt and preparing for their own retirement. The same thing is likely occurring in the United States as well.

DO: Financial advisors should encourage this trend. Remind Boomer parents that they need to shore up their finances and plan for their long-term future — updating their financial plan might be a good idea. And absolve parents of their guilt: Children need to learn the habits of financial discipline, which they will never do if the Bank of Mom and Dad always bails them out.

KNOW: More Silent Generation and Boomer clients are using housing wealth earlier in retirement to maintain their financial independence. Rather than treating homeowner equity as an asset to be cracked open as a last resort, some are tapping it to increase incomes, pay for medical expenses or consolidate debt.

DO: Get smarter about the options surrounding reverse mortgages and how to best use them to help your clients. A great starting place is this free new report from MetLife called “Tapping Home Equity in Retirement.”

KNOW: As we head into a holiday weekend, watch your back. Reports of angry older investors lashing out are cropping up around the globe, including a doozey from Germany last week, in which senior pensioners abducted the man who’d blown their savings in Florida real estate, stripped him, held him captive and beat him repeatedly.

DO: Make sure all of your clients, especially your older ones, understand the risks of investing money in any product or service you recommend. In the post-Bernie Madoff era, investors are mad as hell and aren’t going to take it any more. Make sure they don’t take it out on you!