Here's What Happens When You Put College Savings Ahead of Emergency Savings

Attending college is hardly an inexpensive prospect these days. For the most recent academic year, the average cost of tuition and fees was $39,723 at private colleges, $22,953 for out-of-state students at public colleges, and $10,423 for in-state students at public colleges, according to U.S. News & World Report.

If you don't want your children to wind up with debt in the course of earning their degree, then you may be inclined to open a 529 plan or brokerage account and start setting money aside for their education. But you should only do so once you have a fully-loaded emergency fund in place.

Why emergency savings need to come first

The whole point of saving for college is to spare your kids from having to take on debt. But if you don't set yourself up with an emergency fund, you might end up with debt if you're faced with an unplanned expense or a period of unemployment. 

That's why you should first make sure to build an emergency fund, and only start saving for college once it's complete. And while there are different ways to define a "complete" emergency fund, the general convention is to have a minimum of three months' worth of living expenses socked away in a savings account. The reason is that if you were to lose your job, it might easily take three months to find another one.

Now some financial experts will tell you to aim a lot higher. You may, depending on your circumstances, want as much protection as a year's worth of essential bills in savings. But either way, you actually should not put a dime away for college until you're comfortable with the state of your emergency fund.

Of course, you may be thinking, "Don't I need time to invest my college savings so that money grows?" And yes, the more years you give yourself to build an education fund, the better. 

But think about it this way. Imagine you neglect your emergency fund so you can contribute to your kids' 529 plan. If you then get stuck with a $2,500 home repair, you might need to charge that expense on a credit card and pay interest on it in the absence of having money in the bank. That's not fair to you. 

Remember, too, that there are ways to borrow for college in a relatively affordable fashion. But credit card interest tends to be overwhelmingly unaffordable. So before you focus on being able to pay for your kids' education, make sure you can pay for the various surprise life expenses that have the potential to come your way in the meantime. 

Don't give into the pressure

There's a lot of pressure on parents these days to save for education so their children don't wind up saddled with debt. But it's really okay to protect yourself -- and your family -- from emergencies first. 

Once you're happy with your emergency fund, by all means, start setting as much money as you can aside for college. But don't feel bad if you have to delay your college savings efforts for a while so you can put that basic financial safety net in place.