Yvonne,

Great reply.

Some folks assume 'retirement' means holding only investments that can be liquidated with a phone call or are managed in a fashion that produces a monthly check and no work.

Others think of investing more like a garden where there is care and feeding even if the owner is 'retired'.

There is a point in time when a person cannot active manage anything. Maybe in the minutes before death or maybe for 10+ years when they have difficulty remembering things.

I like the idea of the 3 apartment buildings but acknowledge that they require some specialized knowledge. Hence there likely needs to be some active estate planning and management decisions.

Holding all cash or fixed income assets such as bonds is only one alternative.

Coming back to the original question.

I would say that it might be important to fund the college expenses in a way that is efficient rather then funding further a 401K. This is based on my assumptions that most college expenses happen before retirement so need an earlier solution.

John