EDITOR S NOTE: With their retirement savings crushed by the 2008 market crash, millions of older adults are turning to their children for help. SmartMoney Senior Editor Beverly Goodman is one of those children, and she recently embarked on this special report for SmartMoney.com and the February issue of SmartMoney magazine. Here s her story of providing financial advice to her mother a logistical and emotional minefield that s challenging even for a veteran financial journalist.

It s another Saturday afternoon, and there s way too much to do. Newspapers threaten to overwhelm my too-small Manhattan apartment, the races on the calendar are mocking my running regimen, and a multitude of mundane tasks are about to encroach on any free time I was kidding myself I had. Then the phone rings.

It s my mother. We chat about the usual her ailing father, news from a friend. There s a strain in her voice, though, and I know what it s about a topic I ve been dodging for months. No, not grandchildren: It s far more serious. I need to talk to you about my financial situation, she finally says, pausing so I don t hear the catch in her voice. I don t know what to do.

Across the nation, millions of Americans are in a gut-wrenching dilemma they never dreamed could happen. Today s financial crisis complete with one of the worst market meltdowns in history has wiped out untold trillions from our collective retirement plans. Worse, it s triggered a financial frenzy among those closest to (or even already in) retirement.

And that s a problem not just for them but for their offspring. Suddenly, adult children everywhere are facing problems they never thought they d have: helping their parents through a housing crisis, assisting with health care costs and, of course, finding a retirement strategy that works. It often makes parent-child relationships very fraught with resentment and rebellion on both sides, says Olivia Mellan, a therapist and money coach who trains financial planners. That role reversal can be very tough.

The Impact on One Family

In my family s case, the crash of 2008 came down hardest on my mother, Vida. Sixty-five and divorced, she loves her job and considers herself years from retiring. But her $450,000 retirement stash that was supposed to be growing into a sizable nest egg has, of course, been shrinking at last count, by nearly 30 percent. A diligent saver, she was supposed to be lucky, having a financial journalist for a daughter.

But there s a feeling of helplessness between us now that s hard to navigate. The other day, in the midst of another one of our financial sessions, she literally threw up her hands and cried, I just keep losing money! This from the woman who taught me the value of saving my 50-cent allowance as a child. This from the woman who insisted I join the 401(k) plan of my very first job. This from the woman who essentially did everything right.

My mother didn t know financial security until eight years ago, when she inherited $130,000 and nearly doubled her savings only to lose 40 percent in the crash of 2001. (I ll take some of the blame: At my suggestion, she bought 75 shares of Lucent, which soon imploded, and some high-flying Janus funds that crashed hard.) But those weren t her most significant losses: I lost confidence and never regained it, my mother says, her voice still full of anxiety. Since then she s been slow to react to changes in the market or in her portfolio. She knows she should be doing something but can t even stand to open her statements: I just get paralyzed, she says.

Retirements Reshaped

With so many Americans in this dilemma, politicians are vying to rescue retirement. Lawmakers have even begun to reevaluate the reliability of the 401(k) plan. Critics point to protracted market disasters like this one as the reason people should not be solely responsible for funding their retirement. When 11,000 Enron employees lost a total of $1 billion in their 401(k)s during a six-week period in 2001, Congress began rumbling about reform though nothing substantive ever came of it. Now those same rumblings are getting louder, with plans for more 401(k) oversight and IRA savings incentives being bandied about Washington.

But none of that will help my mother. I am left to step in to spend weekends at the kitchen table in her ranch home on Long Island, poring over financial statements, grilling her about decisions she s made, researching each of her mutual funds and, ultimately, meeting with a financial planner or two. Or three. In the back of my mind, I can t help but wonder: Am I really helping?

NEXT: A slightly dysfunctional relationship -- with the financial planner.

See all of the stories from this series in Special Report: Parents in Crisis

Our special report continues all this week as Goodman recounts the process of getting her mother back on track. Following that, she will chronicle her ongoing experiences in an online diary. ALSO READ: Parents in Crisis: Finding the Right Adviser.