It's quite normal that parent's desire to pay for college
expenses for their children. However, doing so often is a competing objective
against becoming financially independent and funding one's retirement. Emotions
aside, remember there's only one chance at retirement, but your children will
still have a lifetime of opportunity whether you pay for all, part, or none of
their college.
Christine Benz from Morningstar recently wrote on the topic, saying:
Click here to read the full article: http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=558929
Christine Benz from Morningstar recently wrote on the topic, saying:
"But by multitasking as so many parents do--saving for
college and their own retirement at the same time--they run the risk of coming
up light on the retirement front with no way to make up for the shortfall,
except for working longer. The old saying about this topic is dead-on: Your
child can get a loan to pay for his or her college education, but no one will
give you a loan to pay for retirement if it turns out you haven't saved enough.
Given increasing rates of longevity, rising health-care costs, and what many
expect will be only so-so returns from the stock and bond markets in the
decades ahead, can anyone ever really be sure they'll have enough money on
which to retire?"
Click here to read the full article: http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=558929
If your retirement planning works out well, you can always help
your children pay their loans off and do so with the benefit of hindsight
rather than putting your own well-being at risk up-front.