3405: [Part 2] The Greatest Risk To My Retirement Goal by Craig Stephens of Retire Before Dad on Securing Your Future

Optimal Finance Daily - Financial Independence and Money Advice

Optimal Living Daily LLC

Investing, Self-improvement, Education, Business

4.5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 30 December 2025

⏱️ 11 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com. Episode 3405: Craig Stephens breaks down the future costs of college for his three children and how these projections impact his retirement timeline. With detailed modeling, realistic assumptions, and a surprise family update, he explores the financial trade-offs between saving for education and maintaining long-term retirement goals, all while embracing the unpredictability of life. Read along with the original article(s) here: https://www.retirebeforedad.com/greatest-risk-to-retirement-goal/ Quotes to ponder: "Kids come with a price tag, but ultimately they are priceless." "Estimating the cost of college 15 years out is not an exact science." "Any change to a variable alters the numbers by tens of thousands of dollars." Episode references: The World’s Simplest College Cost Calculator: https://www.savingforcollege.com/calculators/worlds-simplest-college-cost-calculator Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:28.4	at Northwest Registeredagent.com
0:31.3	slash paid OFD.
0:34.3	This is Optimal Finance Daily.
0:37.1	The greatest risk to my retirement goal, part two by Craig Stevens of Retire Before Dad.com.
0:45.3	Looking at today's numbers.
0:48.0	Our son is now three years old.
0:50.7	We started his 529 plan the month we returned home from the hospital. Our daughter was
0:55.9	born about a week after I started this blog. I researched 529 savings plans extensively for both of them
1:02.9	and wrote a detailed Virginia 529 review, which continues to be the preeminent Virginia-specific 529 review on the internet.
1:12.8	The conclusion I came to is that the tax benefit given by the state outweighs everything else.
1:18.2	So if your state offers a plan with tax benefits, it's likely the best choice for you,
1:22.8	even if it's not a perfect plan. We contribute $300 per month per kid to a few index stock funds. I'm planning
1:31.0	to keep the money aggressively invested in stocks until we're within five to six years of the college
1:36.3	years before getting more conservative. The current balance on the two 529 college savings accounts
	...

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