Raising a family is rewarding─and expensive. Consider taking these steps to support your family financially through a program of smart investing.

Building a career and raising a family requires management skills. Juggling your time, priorities, and money now while planning for the future can be daunting. Saving now to send your kids to college, take care of your parents as they age, and pursuing a comfortable retirement can be challenging.

Savings alone may not be enough.

Saving part of your monthly income is the first step toward building wealth, but with current interest and inflation rates, saving may not be able to do the job on its own. After putting aside enough cash for an emergency fund, you may want to consider investing in a diversified set of investments such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, real estate, and more. I can show you how to match your investment portfolio to your tolerance for risk, your age, your goals, and your income to help you build your wealth.

Start with building your retirement nest egg. Most often, parents put their children’s future first by building a college fund. While this is certainly important, preparing for retirement should take precedence. Your children have options that you don’t. Your kids can use a combination of savings, loans, and scholarships to attend college. You must live on Social Security and the wealth you’ve accumulated. The last thing you want is to depend on your children’s financial support when they begin working and you stop.

Use the tax code to help build wealth.

If you’re covered by a qualified employer retirement plan, not only should consider making the largest contributions you can afford, you should make sure the money is invested in assets with the potential to provide long-term growth. If you are self-employed or not covered at work, consider an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) and/or Self-Employed 401(k), preferably self-directed ones, to hold your investment portfolio. Not only are contributions tax-deductible each year (subject to income and contribution limits), but all your earnings are tax-deferred until you start making withdrawals. You can delay withdrawals until age 72, giving you many years of tax-deferred growth potential.

Take advantage of other tax breaks.

While contributions to a 529 education savings plan are not deductible from your taxes, growth is tax-deferred, and if used for qualified educational purposes, withdrawals are tax-free. Your employer may offer tax-advantaged benefits like cafeteria plans. As your wealth grows, consider if it’s appropriate to allocate money into investment vehicles like tax-free municipal bonds*, Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities, whole life insurance, Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), and qualified annuities, to name a few.

Be a good parent, and be good to yourself. How you invest your money is critical to the financial health of you and your family.