My husband and I are in our early 40's and he suffered a back injury at work several years ago. He continues to work, does physical labor, and wants to plan to retire in just 10 years because he knows as he ages his back is getting worse. I am supportive of his early retirement, even prefer he leave sooner if possible. The issue is how to save for that, and plan for it, while still helping our kids (ages 17, 16 and 15) get through college. I have my own business and our discussions about how to set priorities for finances have even gotten into the advertising budget for the business and whether or not he should have a say in that even though he is in no other way involved in the business. He thinks if I spent less on advertising I would have a healthier balance in my retirement account orcould take more profit,but I think money spent to grow the business is eventually going to help give us a comfortable retirement, as well as help put the kids through college and provide better income for us when he retires...probably a long time before I do. We havent argued about it, but it has caused several questions about how to reach enthuastic agreement on one topic "Should we increase the amount of money we are putting aside for his retirement" when there are other things affected and something else will have to be given up.... Is there a rule of thumb for sticking to the subject at hand, or is it absolutely necessary to take as much time as needed to explore all of the associated issues? We are beginning to think we will be discussing this 10 years from now.