Setting up and sticking to a financial game plan is hard for most individuals. Adding a child to the mix makes it even more challenging. Parents have tough decisions to make every day. One of the most significant financial decisions they must make is how they want to fund their children’s college education (if they choose to). In addition to college planning, most parents also need to plan for retirement. So, which one is more important?

College is not getting any cheaper. With continual increases in tuition and fees, parents need to seriously consider the options available for college planning. The most popular vehicle today is the 529 college savings plan. In addition to the 529 plan, parents can also use a Coverdell Education Savings Account, UTMA/UGMA, Life Insurance, IRAs, or U.S. savings bonds. Each option has pros and cons, so consult your financial advisor about which one makes the most sense for your situation. Suppose none of these options has ever crossed your mind. In that case, other ways to fund a college education may be more familiar: loans, grants, and scholarships. With grants and scholarships, the money is given to you, but with loans you must pay it back. If you can avoid loans, please do, but they are a great source of funding and sometimes the only option.

Retirement is on every working adult’s mind, and when that day comes, hopefully, you are financially prepared. If your employer offers a retirement account (like a 401K), you should be utilizing it. If your employer doesn’t provide that benefit, or you’re the business owner, you’ll need to set up your own retirement program. Depending on where you work, your company may still offer a pension plan, which means the company is putting money into an account on your behalf to utilize during retirement. Pension plans are slowly becoming a thing of the past because they are costly to maintain; thus, companies are putting more responsibility on individuals to manage their retirement needs. In addition to those retirement options, the government provides some assistance through Social Security. Social Security alone won’t support you through retirement; make sure you take full advantage of any employer-offered retirement benefits. If those retirement benefits aren’t in place, pick up the phone or send an email to your financial advisor and get to work.

Have you figured out which one matters more? Your answer should have been retirement, and here’s why. With retirement, if you don’t set up a plan and stick to it, no loans, grants, or scholarships will bail you out. At that point, you only have two choices: (1) retire with less money or (2) work longer. Most people probably don’t like either choice. Still, unfortunately, that will be a reality for many people. College planning is a huge priority for many parents, but loans, grants, and scholarships will always be available. Those options don’t exist for retirement, so if you are a parent trying to decide what to focus on, choose retirement.