Children living in poverty often show delayed cognitive and social development compared with children reared in more affluent environments. However, much of the research focuses on how objective financial strain (e.g. household income) impacts preschoolers' executive function (EF); little research has considered the impacts of parents' psychological experience of financial strain. The current study examined impoverished children's (N =106, Mage =52.78 months) hot (i.e., emotionally-salient) and cool (i.e., not emotionally-salient) EF in concert with parents' psychological experiences of financial strain. One hundred six preschool children from low-income families completed the Day/Night Stroop task and the Whisper task, assessing cool and hot EF, respectively. Parents completed the Economic Strain Questionnaire and provided objective socioeconomic information. Findings revealed that parents' psychological experience of economic strain fully mediated the relation from poverty severity to children's cool EF, and moderated the link between poverty exposure and children's hot EF performance. These findings suggest that parents' subjective financial strain plays a significant and unique role on economically at-risk children's EF performance, over and above the impacts of objective financial strain. Limitations and implications are discussed.