For many American parents, saving to pay for a teen’s college education and saving for their personal retirement top their financial wish lists. Both wishes require large savings accounts – the average annual tuition for a four-year state college is around $9,000 and around $35,000 a year for a private university, according to the College Board. And retirement goals can vary greatly, but saving for retirement takes a plan.
Because these goals require larger amounts of money, they’re going to take longer to build up savings, and probably require some financial planning so you can afford to handle both at once.
If you start early – when your college-bound child is young and many years prior to your targeted retirement date – it will be easier to invest toward both goals. Here are some tips for planning for college tuition and retirement at the same time:
* College financing traditionally comes from public, private and personal sources. If you were to funnel a small amount of money – even as little as $10 – from every paycheck into a savings account while your child is growing into an adult, by the time she graduates from high school, you could have a significant amount of money to help cover tuition.
* Research 529 plans available to determine if they will help you in saving money for your child’s education. A 529 plan can act like an individual retirement account where you invest money over a period of time, and then take it out for the purpose of paying college tuition. But some 529 plans offer a prepay opportunity, where you pre-pay all or part of the costs of an in-state public college education over time, so your child can head off for school with tuition already paid.
* Take advantage of your employer’s retirement savings plan. If your employer does a 401(k) match, make sure you participate at least up to the full amount of the match.
* Set up an individual retirement account (IRA) – either traditional or Roth – to add some additional savings tools to your arsenal. To make contributing to these accounts easier – try setting up an automatic deduction on a regular basis from either your paycheck or your checking account.
Setting aside just a little here and a little there over time for both financial goals is one of the easiest ways to prepare, and as your son or daughter approaches college, or you come closer to retiring, you’ll probably appreciate having those accounts.