Saving for Retirement and a Child’s Education at the Same Time

你想在退休的时候舒适地退休. 你也想帮助你的孩子上大学. 那么如何兼顾两者呢? 事实是, saving for your retirement and your child’s education at the same time can be a challenge. But take heart — you may be able to reach both goals if you make some smart choices now.

了解你的财务需求

The first step is to determine your financial needs for each goal. 回答以下问题可以帮助你开始:

为退休:

• 你要多少年才能退休?
• Does your company offer an employer-sponsored retirement plan or a pension plan? 你参加吗?? 如果有，你的余额是多少? 你能估计一下退休时你的结余是多少吗?
• 你期望得到多少社会保障福利? (One way to get an estimate of your future Social Security benefits is to use the benefit calculators available on the Social Security Administration’s website, www.ssa.政府. You can also sign up for a My Social Security account so that you can view your online Social Security Statement. 你的月结单详细记录了你的收入, 以及对退休的估计, 幸存者的, 残疾津贴.)
• 你希望退休后过什么样的生活? 例如, 你想广泛旅行吗, or will you be happy to stay in one place and live more simply?
• 你或你的配偶希望退休后做兼职吗?

大学:

• 你的孩子多久才能上大学?
• 你的孩子上的是公立大学还是私立大学? 预期成本是多少?
• 你要为不止一个孩子存钱吗?
• 你的孩子有什么特殊的学业吗, 运动, 或者是能获得奖学金的艺术技能?
• 你希望你的孩子有资格获得经济援助吗?
• Do you plan to cover the entire cost, or would you like the child to bear some of the responsibility?

Many on-line calculators are available to help you predict your retirement income needs and your child’s college funding needs.

弄清楚你每个月能存多少钱

在你知道自己的财务需求之后, 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. 记住, 虽然, that the amount you can afford may change from time to time as your circumstances change. Once you’ve come up with a dollar amount, you’ll need to decide how to divvy up your funds.

退休优先

虽然大学当然是一个重要的目标, you should probably focus on your retirement if you have limited funds. 慷慨的企业养老金已成为过去, 退休的负担主要落在你身上. 但如果你等到孩子上了大学才开始存钱, you’ll miss out on years of potential tax-deferred growth and compounding of your money. 还记得, your child can always attend college by taking out loans (or maybe even with scholarships), 但根本没有退休贷款这回事.

If possible, save for your retirement and your child’s college at the same time

Ideally, you’ll want to try to pursue both goals at the same time. 你现在就能存更多的钱付大学学费, 你或你的孩子以后需要借的钱就越少. Even if you can allocate only a small amount to your child’s college fund, 比如一个月50或100美元, you might be surprised at how much you can accumulate over many years. 例如, 如果你每个月存100美元，每年赚8%, 你会得到18美元,10年后在孩子的大学基金里存415美元. (This example is for illustrative purposes only and does not represent a specific investment. 投资回报会波动，不能保证.)

If you are unsure about how to allocate funds between retirement and college, 专业的理财规划师或许能帮上忙. This person can also help you select appropriate investments for each goal. 还记得, just because you are pursuing both goals at the same time doesn’t necessarily mean that the same investments will be suitable.  独立对待每个目标可能是合适的.

帮助! 我不能同时满足两个目标

If the numbers say that you can’t afford to educate your child or retire with the lifestyle you expected, 你可能要做出一些牺牲. 以下是一些建议:

• 推迟退休:工作时间越长, the more money you will earn and the later you’ll need to dip into your retirement savings.
• 退休期间兼职工作.
• Reduce your standard of living now or in retirement: You might be able to adjust your spending habits now to have more money later. 或者，你可以考虑在退休后削减开支.
• Invest more aggressively: If you have several years until retirement or college, you might be able to earn more money by investing more aggressively (but remember that aggressive investments mean a greater risk of loss). 请注意，没有任何投资策略可以保证成功.
• Expect your child to contribute more money to college: Despite your best efforts, your child may need to take out student loans or work part-time to earn money for college.
• Send your child to a less expensive school: You may have dreamed your child would follow in your footsteps and attend an Ivy League school. 然而, unless your child is awarded a scholarship, you may need to lower your expectations.
• Think of other creative ways to reduce education costs: Your child could attend a local college and live at home to save on room and board, enroll in an accelerated program to graduate in three years instead of four, take advantage of a cooperative education where paid internships alternate with course work, or defer college for a year or two and work to earn money for college.

退休账户可以用来为大学储蓄吗?

是的. 应该是这样吗?? 这取决于你的家庭情况. We generally discourage paying for college with funds from a retirement account; even more so if using retirement funds for a child’s college education will leave you with no funds in your retirement years.

话虽如此, you can certainly tap your retirement accounts to help pay the college bills if you need to. 与ira, 你可以免费提取学费罚款, even if you’re under age 59½ (虽然 there may be income tax consequences for the money you withdraw).

然而, with an employer-sponsored retirement plan like a 401(k) or 403(b), you’ll generally pay a 10% penalty on any withdrawals made before you reach age 59½ (age 55 or 50 in some cases), 即使这笔钱用于大学费用.   可能还会有所得税问题. (Check with your plan administrator to see what withdrawal options are available to you in your employer-sponsored retirement plan.)

大学是一个很大的障碍, 如果历史能给我们一些启示的话, 成本可能会继续上升.  As with any goal, consistently saving is usually the best strategy.

At 全国快3信誉最好的老平台我们是收费的财务顾问. We seek to bring clarity and purpose to wealth through authentic and enduring relationships. 对生活.