Asked on Reddit: Should I Save for My Retirement or My Child’s Education?

A Reddit user recently asked for advice about whether to save for retirement, or for their young children’s future college expenses.

Respondents urged the user to prioritize retirement. Take care of yourself, one said, so you won’t be a burden to your children one day.

You can take out loans for college, but not for retirement, another noted.

We asked financial experts the same question. How can parents juggle these two competing financial goals?

Think about your family’s priorities

The decision may not be so cut-and-dried for you.

As with other kinds of personal finance decisions, this one comes down to very personal choices, says Kevin Mahoney, a certified financial planner and founder of Illumint, a financial planning firm for millennials based in Washington, D.C.

“Some people have a specific retirement lifestyle in mind, which has significant implications for how much money they’ll need in retirement,” he says.

Similarly, he adds, some families are committed to paying whatever is needed for college to ensure their children can attend the school they want.

How people value those two experiences can determine where they want to put their money, Mahoney says.

Put yourself first

The sentiment among the Reddit responses was to prioritize your own needs, which experts agree is sound advice.

“Just like on an airplane, put your own oxygen mask on first,” says Marguerita Cheng, a certified financial planner and CEO of Blue Ocean Global Wealth in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

“There’s all kinds of financial aid for your child, but there’s no financial aid for retirement,” she adds, echoing the Reddit comments.

That’s why she suggests prioritizing saving for retirement — as well as an emergency fund — before turning to college savings.

Get an early start, if possible

“You want to magnify the compounding effect of your retirement savings, so the earlier you begin saving, the better,” says Steven Conners, founder and president of Conners Wealth Management in Scottsdale, Arizona.

A lot of people find themselves unprepared when it comes time to retire, he says.

At the very minimum, Conners suggests, if your job offers a retirement plan with an employer match, contribute enough to get the match. Doing so early gives your money the best chance to grow.

Then, with your contributions on autopilot, you can turn to college savings, which can also compound. A 529 plan allows your money to grow tax-free when used for qualifying education expenses.

Because, as one Redditor suggested, saving for both (retirement and college) is ideal.

College plans also allow for flexibility: You can transfer plans between children and leftover money can be rolled into a Roth IRA in the beneficiary’s name. There is a lifetime limit of $35,000, as long as the account has been open for at least 15 years.

Adjust as you go

Even if you only have a little money available to set aside for retirement or general savings each month, don’t wait, says Cheng.

As young children transition to school and child care costs decrease, you might be able to contribute more and focus on college savings accounts, too.

“The most important thing is to start,” Cheng says, even if you’re only setting aside $50 a month and scaling up from there.

If you lose your job or experience another type of financial hardship, it’s OK to pause savings into both accounts until you recover, Mahoney says.

Another option is to set money aside in a savings or brokerage account that doesn’t come with tax benefits, but gives you maximum flexibility.

“If someone is really conflicted, it’s OK to just invest in a brokerage account and let it grow, then you can make the choice later on,” Mahoney says.

Familiarize yourself with payment options

Mahoney likes to remind clients that savings aren’t the only way to pay for college. There’s also scholarships, student loans and other discounts.

Try getting your kids involved.

Conners says requiring kids to have a part-time job or to otherwise contribute to their college expenses can be a useful life lesson.

It can also teach them to appreciate the value of college more.

“If they realize some of the cost themselves, it’s not totally on the parent,” he says.