Mom insists her 20-year-old daughter living at home share her finances with her, lectures her on her spending: 'You want freedom to spend your money without your mom's meddling? Move out.'

Does she have a right to financial privacy when she's not paying rent?

It's hard to feel like you're fully an adult when you're living under your parents' roof. I'm not saying you're technically not an adult if you're 25, live at home, and have lived at home since you were 18. However, you learn and grow a lot more by living on your own than you do by sleeping in the same bedroom you've slept in since you were a teenager. You learn how to manage your own household and live with roommates who are a lot less forgiving than your parents. You learn to deal with shady landlords who are rarely held accountable for the gross mismanagement of their property. It can be a lot less comfortable moving out than living at home, but at least you have a space where you can grow without your parents coming to bail you out at every turn.

There's a difference between someone who lives at home and fully leeches off their parents, and a grown-up with a full-time job who contributes meaningfully to the household. It's much more respectable to be an adult who lives with their parents, works full-time, and doesn't live their life as if they're still a teenager. The problem is, no matter how much you want your parents to treat you like an adult, there is a part of them that will always see you as a kid. They were the ones who wiped your tush when you were a baby, so they aren't going to see you the way people who met you as an adult see you.