How Grandparents Can Support Family Without Hurting Their Retirement with Yana Leonard (Ep. 112)
Helping your children and grandchildren can become one of the most meaningful parts of retirement, but how much time, money, and energy can you comfortably give?
In this episode, Josh Leonard and Yana Leonard, Chief Risk and Operations Officer at Leonard Advisory Group, explore how grandparents are becoming a bigger part of childcare, family finances, and everyday life. They share their own experience relying on grandparents, examine the financial pressure that family support can create, and consider 529 plans, family trips, relocation, and other ways retirees may help.
Josh also explains why these choices belong in retirement planning, including the need to protect your own time, resources, and independence.
Key points:
- How childcare and after-school help from grandparents can change a working family’s budget and daily routine
- Why financial help for adult children and grandchildren needs to be considered within a retirement plan
- How 529 plans, family vacations, and other gifts can turn retirement resources into shared family experiences
- Why grandparents need room for their own travel, interests, independence, and personal retirement priorities
- How retirement planning can account for family support without overlooking your own financial and personal needs
- And more!
Resources:
Connect with Josh Leonard:
- jleonard@leonardadvisorygroup.com
- LinkedIn: Josh Leonard
- Leonard Advisory Group
- 412-998-PLAN
- YouTube: Leonard Advisory Group
- Facebook: Leonard Advisory Group
Connect with Yana Leonard:
About our Guest:
Yana Leonard serves as Chief Risk and Operations Officer, where she helps ensure every client experience is delivered with clarity, care, and consistency. She oversees firm operations, internal controls, and compliance, supporting a strong foundation that allows advisors to focus on helping clients plan with confidence and live with intent. With 15 years of corporate finance experience, Yana brings a disciplined, thoughtful approach to decision-making, always focused on protecting clients’ best interests and the long-term strength of the firm.
Yana holds her Life and Fixed Annuities and Accident & Health insurance licenses, reinforcing the firm’s comprehensive approach to retirement planning. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting with a minor in Economics and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) with a concentration in Accounting from Baldwin Wallace University. She is also a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA).
Yana lives in Pittsburgh with her husband, Josh, their sons, Eli and Isaac, and Layla, their golden retriever. When she’s not working, she enjoys gardening, volunteering, traveling, and being on the sidelines for her boys’ sporting events.
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