I often get this question: Which should I save for first...my retirement or the kid's college? It's a great question and when parents are working on a tight budget you want to make sure that you are doing the right thing.
A good life analogy for this one is the emergency drill on an airplane. You remember the flight attendants reminder "should the oxygen mask drop from the ceiling...those traveling with children must put on their own mask first before helping your child". Why? Because if you don't get the oxygen you need then who will be there to help the children. The worst case scenario is, if you don't first save for yourself it could be detrimental to both you and your child.
The same applies to whether you should save for your retirement or your child's college. The worst case scenario is you end up in retirement with insufficient funds to take care of yourself. Now your child, who is grown and probably has a family of their own to care for, has to provide for you financially through your 20+ retirement years. It a much smaller burden on the child to obtain low interest student loans for 4 years than to take care of the health, finances and wellbeing of an aged parent or two for 20+ years. In addition your child may end up with a scholarship which pays for school or in a profession that covers the cost of education. And I can promise you there are no scholarships for retirement, only government assistance which doesn't amount to much.
So if you are having thoughts that saving for yourself before your children is selfish I hope you wipe those right out of your mind. On the contrary, saving for your retirement will be a blessing to your children. Because when you retire you'll be able to better enjoy them and the grandchildren because you are financially prepared.