How Older Parents Can Plan for College and Retirement: Advisors' Advice

Parents who are later-in-life tend to be better financially prepared than younger versions of themselves may have been, but it also tends to mean that they met their partner later in life as well, so their financial plan is likely to have become more clear later in life.

So it’s not uncommon to see two partners who may or may not have had similar financial habits for long periods of time, and now need to be extra sure their financial goals are on track, given either a later start, or a later point of clarity on this topic.

Later in our careers, we do tend to be reaching peak earnings potential, so a common issue I see is that people save too little for retirement early on, only to find they have excess earnings to save later on but aren’t able to get the same tax relief, given 401(k) contribution limits.

This is yet another reason why it’s important to start saving early, especially where tax benefits are also part of the equation, which is much less a consideration when it comes to college savings.

Finally, parents often lose sight that there are many ways to help children at various points in time, and this doesn’t exclusively have to be saving in advance for college, and in ways that it may be hard to get money out once it has been put in. Examples would include buying a car, helping with rent, and money towards an eventual home purchase.

— Jeremy Bohne, founder, Paceline Wealth Management