Saving for Retirement and a Childs Education at the Same Time

You want to retire comfortably when the time comes. You also want to help your child go to college. So how do you juggle the two?

KNOW WHAT YOUR FINANCIAL NEEDS ARE

The first step is to determine what your financial needs are for each goal. Answering the following questions can help you get started:

FOR RETIREMENT:

How many years until you retire?
Does your company offer an employer-sponsored retirement plan or a pension plan? Do you participate? If so, what's your balance? Can you estimate what your balance will be when you retire?
How much do you expect to receive in Social Security benefits?
What kind of lifestyle do you hope to have in retirement? For example, do you want to travel extensively, or will you be happy to stay in one place and live more simply?
Do you or your spouse expect to work part-time in retirement?

FOR COLLEGE:

How many years away is college?
Will your child attend a public or private college? What's the expected cost?
Do you have more than one child?
Does your child have any special skills that could lead to a scholarship?
Do you expect your child to qualify for financial aid?

FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU CAN AFFORD TO PUT ASIDE EACH MONTH

After you know what your financial needs are, the next step is to determine what you can afford to put aside each month. To do so, you'll need to prepare a detailed family budget that lists all of your income and expenses. Once you've come up with a dollar amount, you'll need to decide how to divvy up your funds.

RETIREMENT TAKES PRIORITY

Though college is certainly an important goal, you should probably focus on your retirement if you have limited funds. With generous corporate pensions mostly a thing of the past, the burden is primarily on you to fund your retirement. But if you wait until your child is in college to start saving, you'll miss out on years of tax-deferred growth and compounding of your money. Remember, your child can always attend college by taking out loans (or maybe even with scholarships), but there's no such thing as a retirement loan!

If the numbers say that you can't afford to educate your child or retire with the lifestyle you expected, you'll have to make some sacrifices. Here are some things you can consider.

HELP! I CAN'T MEET BOTH GOALS

Defer retirement: The longer you work, the more money you'll earn and the later you'll need to dip into your retirement savings. Or, consider working part-time during retirement.

Make changes to your lifestyle now or in retirement: You might be able to adjust your spending habits now, or you may consider cutting back in retirement.

Increase your earnings now: Consider increasing your hours at your current job, finding a new job with better pay, taking a second job, or having a previously stay-at-home spouse return to the workforce.

Invest more aggressively: But remember that aggressive investments mean a greater risk of loss.

Send your child to a less expensive school: Don't feel guilty--a lesser-known liberal arts college or a state university may provide your child with a similar quality education at a far lower cost.