Paying for your child's college education is a priority. But it shouldn't be your top priority. Personal finance experts say retirement planning comes first.

Trying to plan for the future can make you feel like a circus clown, juggling two fire torches while balancing a glass of water on your forehead. If you can't simultaneously afford to save for your child's future college tuition and your own retirement, which goal takes priority?

First and foremost: Retirement

Regular, annual increases in college tuition get a lot of attention in the media. So much, in fact, that you might feel it's necessary to rearrange your budget to fund specialized college savings plans. But if that rearranging requires you to reduce regular retirement account contributions, you might want to rethink that strategy. For several reasons, it makes sense to prioritize the retirement savings first, and worry about college tuition later. Consider the following:

Financial aid eligibility: The size of your retirement accounts won't affect your child's eligibility for financial aid. But if that same money is kept in a 529 Plan or Coverdell in your child's name, financial aid may not be available.

Availability of college loans, grants and other options: Today's college student has many options for college financing, from student loans to grants to part-time jobs on or off campus. Often, students can get by on a combination of all three. Parents also have the option of borrowing against home equity or taking out a personal loan. But when it comes to retirement, banks aren't going to lend you any money. If you don't have enough money saved, you'll need to keep working until you do, at an age when you'll no longer want to.

The Passing of Time: The easiest way to store up a substantial sum of money is to do it over time, since your growing principal balance will do a substantial part of the work. If you wait until your kids graduate from college before you start saving for retirement, you may never be able to catch up.

Using Retirement Savings for Tuition

Tax law allows you to take money out of your IRA for qualified educational expenses without penalty. This really shouldn't be considered, however, until all other options have been exhausted. For example, have you explored lower-cost state schools within commuting distance or even community colleges? Both of these are better options than pulling from your retirement fund, which can you leave you without the money when you need it most.

Ultimately, you may have to accept that certain schools are beyond your means. While this may not be pleasant to hear, it's better than jeopardizing your financial security later in life. When your kids get older, they'll be juggling their own fire torches; if you show up on their doorsteps in financial need, you'll just be adding another one to the mix.