I cashed out $60,000 from my retirement account to pay for my child's education. I have no regrets.

"When I was 14 years old, I began 9th grade at a top-ranked Catholic girls' school a move that would shape the course of my life. I was able to do so because my grandfather and mother had tucked money into savings accounts designated for my education every month since my birth. It was this same discipline and care that led my mother to open a Roth IRA for me in my early 20s. Again, she dutifully and generously made a monthly deposit."

"At the time, I was in grad school and living in Brooklyn. Sometimes my partner and I had to put off grocery shopping for a week until her paycheck came in. I regularly overdrew my bank account. The idea of saving for retirement felt absurd. I didn't even have a job to retire from. I never would've guessed that account would change the course of a life only not mine."

"My son loved his elementary school, but by the time he was in fifth grade, we had reached a breaking point with the academics. Every night, to complete his math homework, I would pull out a whiteboard and re-teach whatever concept they had covered in class that day before we even began the worksheet. It was an exhausting ritual that led to slammed doors, shouting, and lots of tears. Eventually, we were able to get him an evaluation and a diagnosis of dyslexia and other learning disabilities."

"New York has a number of fantastic specialized schools for kids with learning disabilities, but, like all that glitters in this city, they come at a hefty price tag. Even after an extremely generous financial aid package, we were still on the hook for $30,000 a year. My wife and I are on solid ground financially, long past our broke Brooklyn days. But we didn't have that much to spare. We debated moving for his education"

A move to a top Catholic girls’ school at age 14 was made possible by consistent monthly savings set aside by a grandfather and mother. Later, a Roth IRA was opened in the early 20s with regular monthly deposits, even while living in Brooklyn during grad school and facing frequent cash-flow problems. Retirement saving felt unrealistic at the time. Years later, a son struggled academically, leading to nightly re-teaching of math and frequent conflict. After evaluation, he received a diagnosis of dyslexia and other learning disabilities. Specialized schools in New York were considered but remained expensive even with financial aid, leaving the family to weigh options for his education.

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