By Eric Stock

BLOOMINGTON – A financial planner says there’s just one main obstacle keeping Americans from feeling confident about their finances.

Parents trying to send their child to college know the answer. One in six Americans in the Country Financial Security Survey feel they have the resources to send a child to college.

Country’s director of wealth management Troy Frerichs said that’s no reason to put of retirement.

“The old mantra is you can’t borrow for retirement” Frerichs said. “So we like to see individuals securing that retirement first and those types of goals and then working on college. College for me is a lagging indicator.”

The survey is otherwise positive. It’s overall security rating is its highest since the recession hit in 2008.

“As things start to fall into place and you see the recovery continues the college planning will start to emerge a little bit too,” Frerichs said, noting household net worth is at an all-time high and many other indicators – savings rates, debt-to-income ratios and payrolls and job openings are positive.

The survey says nearly four in five Americans feel confident in their ability to pay off debts on time, while nearly three in five are confident they can enjoy a comfortable retirement.

Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].