同时为退休和孩子的教育存钱

You want to retire comfortably when the time comes. You also want to help your child go to college. So how do you juggle the two? The truth is, 同时为你的退休和孩子的教育储蓄可能是一个挑战. 但是振作起来——如果你现在做出一些明智的选择，你也许能够实现这两个目标.

Know what your financial needs are

第一步是确定每个目标的财务需求. Answering the following questions can help you get started:

For retirement:

• How many years until you retire?
• 贵公司是否提供雇主赞助的退休计划或养老金计划? Do you participate? If so, what’s your balance? Can you estimate what your balance will be when you retire?
• How much do you expect to receive in Social Security benefits? 估算未来社会保障福利的一种方法是使用社会保障局网站上的福利计算器, www.ssa.gov. 你也可以注册一个我的社会保障账户，这样你就可以查看你的网上社会保障报表. Your statement contains a detailed record of your earnings, as well as estimates of retirement, survivor’s, and disability benefits.)
• What standard of living do you hope to have in retirement? For example, do you want to travel extensively, 还是你愿意呆在一个地方，过更简单的生活?
• Do you or your spouse expect to work part-time in retirement?

For college:

• How many years until your child starts college?
• Will your child attend a public or private college? What’s the expected cost?
• Do you have more than one child whom you’ll be saving for?
• Does your child have any special academic, athletic, or artistic skills that could lead to a scholarship?
• Do you expect your child to qualify for financial aid?
• 你是打算支付全部费用，还是想让孩子承担部分责任?

许多在线计算器可以帮助你预测你的退休收入需求和你孩子的大学资金需求.

Figure out what you can afford to put aside each month

After you know what your financial needs are, 下一步是确定你每个月能存多少钱. 为此，你需要准备一份详细的家庭预算，列出你所有的收入和支出. Keep in mind, though, 你能负担的金额可能会随着情况的变化而不断变化. 一旦你想出了一个金额，你需要决定如何分配你的资金.

Retirement takes priority

Though college is certainly an important goal, 如果你的资金有限，你可能应该关注你的退休生活. With generous corporate pensions mostly a thing of the past, the burden is primarily on you to fund your retirement. But if you wait until your child is in college to start saving, 你将错过多年的潜在延税增长和你的钱的复利. Remember, 你的孩子可以通过贷款(或者甚至是奖学金)上大学。, but there’s no such thing as a retirement loan.

如果可能的话，同时为你的退休和孩子的大学学费存钱

理想情况下，你应该同时追求这两个目标. The more money you can save for college bills now, the less money you or your child will need to borrow later. 即使你只能为孩子的大学基金分配一小部分, say $50 or $100 a month, 你可能会惊讶于多年来你能积累多少. For example, if you saved $100 every month and earned 8% annually, you would have $18,415 in your child’s college fund after 10 years. (此示例仅用于说明目的，并不代表具体的投资. Investment returns will fluctuate and cannot be guaranteed.)

如果你不确定如何在退休和大学之间分配资金, a professional financial planner may be able to help. 这个人也可以帮助你为每个目标选择合适的投资. Remember, 仅仅因为你同时追求这两个目标并不一定意味着同样的投资将是合适的.  It may be appropriate to treat each goal     independently.

Help! I can’t meet both goals

如果数字表明你负担不起你的孩子的教育或退休后你所期望的生活方式, you’ll probably have to make some sacrifices. Here are some suggestions:

• Defer retirement: The longer you work, 你挣的钱越多，你需要动用退休储蓄的时间就越晚.
• Work part-time during retirement.
• 降低你现在或退休后的生活水平:你也许可以调整你现在的消费习惯，以便以后有更多的钱. Or, you may want to consider cutting back in retirement.
• 更积极地投资:如果你离退休或上大学还有好几年, 你也许可以通过更激进的投资来赚更多的钱(但要记住，激进的投资意味着更大的损失风险). Note that no investment strategy can guarantee success.
• 期望你的孩子为大学贡献更多的钱:尽管你尽了最大的努力, 你的孩子可能需要助学贷款或兼职工作来赚钱上大学.
• 把你的孩子送到一所便宜的学校:你可能梦想着你的孩子会跟随你的脚步，上一所常春藤盟校. 然而，除非你的孩子获得了奖学金，否则你可能需要降低你的期望.
• 想想其他创造性的方法来降低教育成本:你的孩子可以上当地的大学，住在家里以节省食宿费, 参加一个速成课程，在三年内毕业，而不是四年内, 充分利用合作教育，带薪实习与课程学习交替进行, 或者推迟一两年上大学，工作赚钱上大学.

Can retirement accounts be used to save for college?

Yes. Should they be? That depends on your family’s circumstances. 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.

With that said, 如果需要的话，你当然可以动用你的退休账户来支付大学账单. With IRAs, you can withdraw money penalty free for college expenses, 即使你的年龄在59岁半以下(尽管你提取的钱可能要缴纳所得税).

However, 雇主赞助的退休计划，比如401(k)或403(b), 在你达到59岁半之前(在某些情况下是55岁或50岁)，你通常要支付10%的罚款。, even if the money is used for college expenses.   There may be income tax consequences, as well. (咨询你的计划管理人，看看在你的雇主赞助的退休计划中，你有哪些提款选择.)

College is a big hurdle, and if history is any indication of what is to come, costs could continue to rise.  与任何目标一样，持续储蓄通常是最好的策略.

At Austin Asset, we are Fee-Only Financial Advisors. 我们寻求通过真实和持久的关系为bet36365线路检测中心带来清晰和目的. For Life.