1. Set Priorities
Unless you have unlimited money, you must make some choices when you balance your important goals of saving for retirement and helping your children with school. To get started, you should prioritize. First, consider that your children will have more flexibility with school funding options than you will have during retirement.

For example, your children can take out loans and consider beginning their college career at a cheaper school. Some children can even earn some college credit in high school or save part of their earnings from summer or part-time jobs. You will have fewer options during retirement, and nobody will offer you a loan to fund your retirement.

2. Get Time on Your Side
The earlier you begin saving, the more time you will have to watch your money grow. These are some steps you can take right now:

• If you have a 401(k) plan at work, you can help yourself by taking advantage of automatic payroll deductions and possible matching contributions from your employer.
• If you don’t have a savings plan at work, you can still have automatic investments withdrawn for an IRA.
• Every time you increase your salary, you should make at least a proportional increase in retirement savings.

Even if you balance your savings more on the side of retirement than college, you can always divert retirement savings to college if you have to. You could face tax consequences if you take money from some retirement accounts, but the growth of early contributions can make up for tax penalties.

3. Maximize Your Savings & Investment Opportunities
Few people ever regretted saving too much money for retirement. Even fewer regret starting a savings plan early instead of later. Closer to the time your child gets ready to think about colleges, you can always rebalance your portfolio if your retirement accounts are well funded.

You can consider funding such tax-advantage college accounts as a 529 plan, Coverdell ESA, or UTMA. After you’ve maximized tax-advantaged accounts, you could also consider regular investments that will allow you to use them in any way you choose without regard to tax consequences. Adequate funding and some diversity in the way you save can provide you with more security, too.

4. Talk to Your Children About Their Future Plans
By the time your children begin high school, they should start to think about potential majors and which colleges interest them. While their ideas could change, you need to start estimating the costs of achieving their goals to allocate savings and provide guidance. Don’t fear discussing money with your children. Children pay attention to financial issues, and having advice from parents helps them avoid misconceptions and make better choices.

One topic you could begin with is the financial consequences of college choices. You could save tens of thousands of dollars by having your student start his or her higher education at a community college, maintain good grades, and then transfer to a university to complete their degree. Even after they enter college, many students change their minds about majors, so starting at a community college also helps minimize the risk of wasting money on classes they won’t need later.