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My Kids’ Education or My Retirement: What’s More Important?

BY: Jordon Geiger

After tax season, my wife and I have a tradition in which we sit down and evaluate our current goals, make new goals and review and adjust our financial plan. Having three kids at home, it is important to us to set some funds aside to pay for their education (or a portion thereof depending on rising costs of education).  When reviewing our goals, it became apparent that we need to fund our kids’ education savings at a more rapid pace.  This of course will affect our funding for retirement, if we want to meet our education funding goals for all three kids.

It's seldom easy to achieve a balance between saving for retirement and saving for the ever-increasing costs of a college education within your current resources. Yet, if your goal is to pay for your kids’ educational cost (or a portion thereof) and save for retirement, it's imperative that you save for both at the same time. To postpone saving for your retirement means missing out on years of tax-deferred growth and playing a near-impossible game of catch-up. To accomplish both goals, you may need to compromise.

Examine Your Funding Needs

The first step is to thoroughly examine your funding needs for both college and retirement. On the retirement side, remember to include the estimated value of any employer pension plans, as well as your Social Security benefits. This evaluation may prompt you to examine some deeply held beliefs about your financial goals. For example, is it important that you travel regularly in retirement, or is it more important that your child attend a prestigious college?

Consider Compromises

If you discover that you can't afford to save for both goals, the second step is to consider some compromises:

  • Defer your retirement and work longer.
  • Reduce your standard of living, now or in retirement.
  • Increase your family income by getting a second job or having a previously stay-at-home spouse join the work force.
  • Seek out more aggressive investments (but beware of the risks).
  • Expect your child to contribute to college.
  • Investigate less expensive colleges. You may find that some less expensive state universities have more to offer in certain programs than their pricey private counterparts.
  • Consider other ways to reduce the cost of college, including online learning, accelerated degree programs, starting off at community college, or searching for college scholarships.

Re-Evaluate

The third step is to re-evaluate your plan from time to time as your circumstances and wishes change. Remember, the important thing is to earmark a portion of your present income for both goals and do the best you can.

Investment Products:
Are Not FDIC Insured | Are Not Bank Guaranteed | May Lose Value
Author:

Jordon Geiger

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