The author has no regrets about draining her retirement account. Courtesy of the author My son struggled in school and needed a specialized environment. I cashed out my retirement savings to cover his tuition. He's now thriving academically and socially, and I don't regret it. When I was 14 years old, I began 9th grade at a top-ranked Catholic girls' school — a move that would shape the course of my life. I was able to do so because my grandfather and mother had tucked money into savings accounts designated for my education every month since my birth. It was this same discipline and care that led my mother to open a Roth IRA for me in my early 20s. Again, she dutifully and generously made a monthly deposit. At the time, I was in grad school and living in Brooklyn. Sometimes my partner and I had to put off grocery shopping for a week until her paycheck came in. I regularly overdrew my bank account. The idea of saving for retirement felt absurd. I didn't even have a job to retire from.…