COLLEGE-AGE STUDENTS' PARENTS FACE DILEMMA.

• Position: Brief Article

From a financial standpoint, it is axiomatic among financial planners that, for most parents, funding retirement should take precedence over funding college education. However, a family's decision is often an emotional, rather than a financial, one, members of the Financial Planning Association point out.

"The most important financial goal you will have in your life is providing [for] your retirement," maintains Donald Sowa, of Sowa Financial Group, Providence, R.I. He emphasizes to clients that, if their child reaches age 18 and the family hasn't saved adequately for college, there are still options for the student such as financial aid. On the other hand, if the clients reach age 65 and haven't saved for retirement, there are no options.

Raymond Loewe, of Financial Resources Network, Marlton, N.J., who specializes in helping parents plan for college education, says he has found that the question of how clients save for education and retirement "really depends more on how parents feel than on the economics of the situation. Parents are willing to put themselves at risk if they really believe in what they are doing for their kids"

"The first key in making this decision is to stress the tradeoff the parents are making," suggests John Brown, of Brown Financial Advisory, Fairhope, Ala. "Several planners will tell a client that, if they want to fully pay for a child's education at such and such level, then...