Yahoo Finanzen Why You Shouldn't Raid Your Retirement Fund for a Child's College Education
It's a classic debate between money managers at the local coffee shop or watering hole: Should parents looking for college cash use their retirement plans to get the money?
One issue is already clear -- increasingly, parents want their children to take on more of the financial responsibility of college savings, even as college-bound teens don't see it that way.
According to a T. Rowe Price survey, 62 percent of U.S. children between 8 and 14 expect their parents to pay for "whatever college I want to go to." Correspondingly, 65 percent of parents say they will "only be able to contribute some to the cost of college."
[See: 11 Tips for the Sandwich Generation: Paying for College and Retirement.]
"The benefits of a college education can become overshadowed by the burden of debt if parents haven't saved toward a college education and had money conversations with their kids to manage expectations of how much of their college costs they can cover," says Judith Ward, a senior financial planner at T. Rowe Price and mother of two college graduates. "It's surprising that most kids expect their parents to cover whatever college they want to go to -- and presents a real opportunity to discuss family finances and make sure everyone is on the same page."
The family college savings issue can get particularly dicey if the parents become tempted to raid their retirement savings to help get their child through four years of college.
That move doesn't sit well with financial professionals, most of whom are against using retirement funds for college costs.
There are no loans for retirement. "I have a simple quote that I use when I hear this question," says Robert Farrington, founder of The College Investor in Spring Valley, California. "Junior can get a loan for school, but parents can't get a loan for retirement."
Farrington says his position on the issue is that parents should never use their retirement funds to pay for college.
"There are countless options for your child to pay for school -- working, scholarships, grants and student loans. There are not a lot of options beyond savings, Social Security and continued work in retirement," he says. "Parents should take care of their retirement first, then use extra money to pay for school if they can afford it."
Other financial experts agree, noting that the issue can be contentious when parents and kids have not discussed it.
"I don't recommend that clients raid their retirement assets to pay for their child's college costs," says Maria Sciuto, a certified financial planner at Forte Capital in Poughkeepsie, New York.
By and large, it's a "wonderful" sentiment to pay for your child's higher education, "but at what cost?" Sciuto says.
"In most cases you probably won't be able to replace those assets, and you'll also lose the compounding effects of interest over time on those withdrawn assets," Sciuto says. "You can take out a loan for those higher education costs, but again, will those debt payments take away your ability to save for your retirement -- a retirement that can last over 20 or more years?"
[Read: 10 Retirement Savings Goals for 2017.]
Foot your own bill. "Even with the high costs of tuition today, it is worth it for kids to finance their own education," says Matt Hylland, a financial planner with Hylland Capital Management in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
"According to data released by the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, full-time workers with just a high school education averaged $698 per week, while workers with a bachelor's degree averaged $1,270 per week," Hylland says. "A $570-per-week difference for the rest of your life is certainly worth financing an education."
Additionally, federal student loans may come with added benefits, such as income-based repayment plans, future forgiveness options or low interest rates, Hylland adds.
"And, because student loans are becoming such an issue, you are also seeing employers offering to help pay student loans in order to remain competitive in hiring recent college grads," he says.
Hylland's advice for college-bound families is simple: If you're planning ahead, take advantage of your most important asset today: time.
"Starting to save as early as possible, no matter how little you can afford," he says. "When looking at goals 10 to 20 years out ... even small amounts of money have time to grow into larger sums, thanks to compounding interest."
Another option includes using U.S. savings bonds for college savings that could also double as an emergency fund or other savings.
"Under most circumstances, both EE series and I series savings bonds can be used to pay for qualifying education expenses tax-free," Hylland says. "The bonds are best for those with a longer time horizon, but these savings bonds can also be cashed out one year after purchase for a small fee."
Also, if you're afraid to lock money into a 529 account, where you face a penalty to withdrawal early, you can "use savings bonds as a cash reserve for emergencies that is also growing and well-suited for college expenses down the road if that emergency never comes," Hylland says.
The bottom line. For parents, the takeaway is to avoid using any retirement savings to pay for college costs. It's hard to make up the money lost, and college students have ample access to college funding -- even if it means they may accumulate student loan debt.
[See: 10 Costs You Can Eliminate in Retirement.]
As money managers like to say, there's no financial aid for retirees. It's all on you, Mom and Dad, so hang onto your retirement savings and determine other ways to cover college costs.
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