A strong majority of parents in a recent study expressed willingness to use their retirement savings to finance their children’s college education.
According to Lending Tree, 68% of parents in a survey of 1,000 parents of children under age 18 would take money from their retirement savings to help put their children through college.
They further found that among the parents who participated, saving for retirement took a back seat to other priorities: 32% put saving for college at the top of the list, while 25% considered paying off debt their most important financial goal; 18% said saving for retirement was their top priority.
The study also found a gender divide, with 74% of fathers expressing willingness to tap into their retirement nest egg, while 64% of mothers did so. At the same time, according to the study, almost twice as many fathers as mothers said saving retirement was their top priority—25% of fathers said so, and 13% of mothers did. Twice as many mothers as fathers, on the other hand, considered retiring debt the top priority—32 % versus 16%.
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