When saving for the future, is it better to save for my son's college fund our our retirement?

Question

If we were to save some money for our son's college fund, could we save for the miscellaneous like books and things and take out a loan for tuition and then save as much as we can for retirement?

Answer 1

I agree-retirement is more important. The earlier you save for retirement, the better the compunding, so you can actually save a lesser amount, earlier, and are better off than waiting until 10 years before retirement, even if you save a lot then. There are many retirement calculators that you can play with and see how much you should save and what it will grow to at retirement. Early retirement contibutions are key! You're better off saving early on for 15 years than the last 25 years before retirement.

Many times, whatever grants or college help that may be available are impacted by money saved for college. 529 plans are good because the parent stays the owner not the minor but the money can be used for the beneficiary/minor/student.There's tons of information on the internet for all of those topics-try to some research searching for "retirement calculator" college grants, loans and 529 plans.

Answer 2

Definitely, the retirement! Like you said, you can take out a loan for college, but nobody will give you a loan for retirement, how would you pay it back without a job?!?!?!?

Answer 3

Retirement! Don't take out a loan for your son's college, either. Let him work for it. I worked my way through college and it was good for me. If anybody should take a loan out for his college (which is debatable) it should be him who takes it out and not you. Also there are pell grants and scholarships he could get.

Answer 4

retirement,
you cannot barrow money for retirement,
you can barrow money for college

Answer 5

Both.