What’s happening to all that retirement money people are supposed to besaving?

It’s probably going to support, or help support, an older oryounger family member.

That’s according to a Gallup poll, the first quarter Wells Fargo/GallupInvestor and Retirement Optimism Index survey, which finds that 32percent of investors are providing financial support to an adultfamily member—a parent, a grown child, or perhaps even both.

And, not surprisingly, 61 percent of those say that it’s makingit tough to save for their own retirement.

Among retired investors, the number is a bit lower, at 25percent, than it is among those still actively working (35percent). While 22 percent of retired investors say they’re helpingan adult child, 2 percent say they’re helping a parent and 1percent say they’re helping both, 75 percent say they aren’tproviding financial help to such family members.

But among those not yet retired, just 65 percent say they’re nothelping to support family members; 24 percent are helping one ormore adult children, 8 percent are bailing out a parent and 3percent are helping both generations.

Overall, the poll finds that 46 percent of investors who haveone or more grown children are providing them with financialsupport, while 14 percent of investors with a living parent aredoing the same.

While the poll did not ask how much financial supportrespondents are providing, or how the money is being used—such asfor college, in the case of adult children—a 2013 Gallup study found that the “boomerang” or“Peter Pan” phenomenon of young adults returning to or remaining intheir parents’ home is all too real for many families.

That survey found that 14 percent of adults in their immediatepostcollege years (aged 24–34) indicated they were living at homewith their parents.

This supporting of other generations, however, is taking a tollon retirement preparedness. A little more than six in 10 investorswho are providing money to older or younger generations say ithinders their retirement savings a lot (11 percent), a moderateamount (17 percent) or a little (33 percent).

That amounts to 20 percent of all investors who are negativelyaffected by the financial support they provide.