Yahoo Finance 11 Tips for the Sandwich Generation: Paying for College and Retirement
If you’re part of the sandwich generation, you’re taking care of your child and have an aging parent. If one or both need financial support, it can be pretty tough to save for your retirement. The dilemma is quite common, since nearly half (47 percent) of adults in their 40s and 50s have a parent age 65 or older living in their home and are either raising a young child or financially supporting a grown child (age 18 or older), according to the Pew Research Center. Here are some ways to do it.
Have the conversation.
Consider having a family forum to brainstorm solutions, vent frustrations and delegate. It may present an opportunity for younger family members to step up to new responsibilities and older family members to find ways to help and feel useful. Teens can earn extra cash through tutoring and with sites such as Upwork, Taskrabbit and Poshmark. Sometimes, a younger person can find self-esteem while caretaking and seeing gratitude in the eyes of a grandparent. Also seek public caregiving programs, and maybe consider an au pair.
Reduce tuition bills.
It’s common for students to transfer to their college of choice after fulfilling general education requirements a cheaper way. “The first two years of college are mostly general education requirements, many of which can be completed with inexpensive online courses or through competency based exams like CLEP,” says Adrian Ridner, CEO of the online learning website Study.com. “On average, these forms of alternative credit could save as much as $1,000 to $3,000 per course.” Also earn early college credit with dual enrollment, AP or transferable online courses.
Be realistic when planning for college.
Talk with your children about how much you can help them with college tuition and who will be responsible for repaying any loans. “Only 19 percent of students at public universities graduate in four years,” Ridner says. “At an average cost of $22,826 a year, those unexpected costs (for extra years) could be crippling. If you child understands the financial burden, they will be more aware of the consequences of not graduating in four years and work harder to stay on track.”
Saving for retirement has to come first.
If you’re weighing whether to pay for college tuition, remember: Your children will have many more years to spread their loan repayments than you have to save for retirement. “If you aren’t at least maxing out your employer match in your 401(k) and an IRA every year, you simply aren’t in a position yet to save for education,” says Joshua Wilson, partner and chief investment officer of WorthPointe Financial.
You can take a loan from your 401(k) plan.
The loan is not subject to income tax or an early withdrawal penalty, and doesn’t show up as income to jeopardize your child’s chances at receiving financial aid the way other savings and investments can, Wilson says. “The trade-off for doing this is that you are temporarily taking out money that could be growing.” Before taking the 401(k) loan, be sure to understand its repayment and penalty rules, he says.
Start a Coverdell education savings account.
“This account helps you save money for your child’s education, but the assets are considered yours, not your child’s. That means it won’t affect your child’s chance of receiving financial aid,” says Tracy Layden, a certified aging-in-place specialist working with Alert1, a technology company focused on seniors and their caregivers.
Consider the prepaid 529 plan and 529 college savings plan.
Both have advantages. If your state has a prepaid 529 option, it allows you to pay state tuition at today’s prices, locking the rate. This can work well if you have a young child. The traditional 529 savings plan can give you flexibility to also use the money out of state, and on books and board. You can have both. Personal Capital, a wealth management firm, recommends parents consider paying about 30 percent of the education cost up front. A savings plan to shuttle $250 per month into a 529 account will help you stay below the annual family gifting limit.
Keep yourself healthy.
If your mental and physical health deteriorate, the costs for treatment can burn through savings faster than a wildfire. Lost wages and medical costs for one major heart attack, for example, could cost about $1 million, according to some estimates. (Less if you have insurance, of course.) Get the exercise you need, eat a healthy diet, talk to a professional therapist when life seems out of control and don’t take health risks.
Plan ahead for health care expenses.
Without long-term care insurance, you could be in for a shock. Nursing homes can cost more than $81,000 per year, and assisted living costs hover around $42,600 per year, according to Fidelity Investments. The latest retiree health care cost estimates that a 65-year-old couple retiring in 2016 will need an average of $245,000to cover medical expenses throughout retirement, Fidelity says. The average cost of dementia in the last five years of life is $287,038, according to a study funded by the National Institute on Aging.
Learn to cook simple, healthy, gourmet meals.
When you’re trying to stay on budget, it can be torture to smell a co-worker’s gourmet lunches when you’re hungry. But buying lunch and eating out can be an enormous hidden cost. (Spending just $10 on lunch per weekday is about $2,500 per year.) Learning to cook two delicious recipes for the week can give you variety in your lunch bag, and save you from feeling deprived. If you use legume recipes, you’ll save even more.
Force yourself to save automatically.
Thanks to electronic banking, it’s easier to put money aside for big investments like retirement and college funds. Consider using an app such as Acorn, which rounds up your spare change from transactions and automatically invests it in a diversified portfolio of your choice (spend $3.25, invest 75 cents). But always read the fine print for fees.
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