Ah, college. A time of great discovery for America’s youth. It’s the process of which we arrive as children and leave as adults…or pretty close to adults. That part really depends on your “class to party attendance ratio.”

As the title character in 2002’s Van Wilder so eloquently stated, “Don’t be a fool, stay in school.” Of course, Van spent 7 years in college with no degree to show for it until his dad, played by Animal House’s own Tim Matheson, threatened to pull the financial plug.

Unfortunately, as we get older and have children, the image of college shifts from that of limitless fun and opportunity to that of a giant vacuum sucking money right out of our checking accounts. All while we continue to struggle with providing for our families and saving for our own retirements. That dilemma is magnified by the trend of today that sees parents waiting until they’re more established in their marriage and their careers before having a family, forcing the need to save for both retirement and college at the same time.

Of course, you could just pause your retirement saving until your children’s college years have concluded. But, that would force you to put off saving for retirement during prime earning years, thus making your retirement goals that much more difficult to attain. And it certainly doesn’t help that the cost of college has far outpaced the rate of inflation for a majority of the last 40 years!

What is a parent to do?

Well, plan first. Determine how much money you will need for both goals. If it reveals that you will come up short, you have some work to do.

One option is to defer your retirement. The longer you wait to dip into your retirement funds, the longer it will last. Working a little longer could be all it takes to close the gap and pay for your children’s college education and your retirement. You could even simply work part time during retirement, something about 25 percent of retirees do anyway.

Reducing your standard of living is another potential solution. This can be as simple as a reduction in spending habits or as complex as downsizing to a smaller home, selling a second car and forgoing club memberships and expensive vacations. It really all depends on how wide the gap is between success and failure, and how much you’re willing to do to help your children.

If you’re unable or unwilling to lower your standard of living today, perhaps it would be easier to do so in retirement. A cheaper car, fewer vacations and smaller home are all viable options to trim your spending level in retirement, thus shrinking the magic number you’ll need to reach to begin your retirement.

If you have a stay-at-home parent in your home, it’s possible that a return to the workforce could increase the family’s earnings enough to achieve both goals. Be careful here, though. A return to work could lead to an increase in expenses such as child care and commuting costs. Make sure you’ll be getting a net positive if you look into this route.

Of course, even if you leverage all of these options, you may find those ends still aren’t meeting. In that case, your children may have to take on some of the responsibility for paying for college, too. Don’t rule out avenues like a community college for a year or two before the child goes on to a four-year institution. The diploma will reflect the four-year college, but your pocketbook won’t.

There’s also accelerated programs available where students can graduate in three years instead of four. And the online options are plentiful in this day and age. Explore all of your options, and consider what the most cost-effective route is for your children to attain a degree they can both use and afford.

This includes understanding what career path your child would like to pursue and what the proper degree to attain for that would be. Taking on too much debt to enter into a job that doesn’t pay enough to satisfy that debt or doesn’t require as much education as was received is not a problem you want your children taking on. When half of Junior’s paycheck has to go to student loan payments, he may find paying a modest rent to be a struggle.

Each family’s solution will be different, just as each family’s circumstances are different. Do your homework and work on a plan. Seek the assistance of a financial advisor if you’re unsure of what that plan should be.

As parents, we owe it to our children to do all we can to limit the amount of debt they will graduate college with. If we want them to be successful adults, offering them an opportunity to get a quality education without a crippling amount of debt is a great way to start. Of course, we also owe it to them to save enough for our own retirement that we don’t end up living with them in our old age.

The line between those two is fine. Plan accordingly to make sure you can walk it.

Dale Nicholson, III AAMS® is a Financial Advisor at Raymond James & Associates, Inc. Member New York Stock Exchange/SIPC, located 100 Morgan Keegan Dr. Ste. 200, Little Rock. Dale can be reached at (501) 671-1147 or dale.nicholson@RaymondJames.com. Any opinions stated are those of the author and not necessarily those of Raymond James. Please note, changes in tax laws or regulations may occur at any time and could substantially impact your situation. Raymond James financial advisors do not render advice on tax or legal matters. You should discuss any tax or legal matters with the appropriate professional.