For example, in October, a LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute study found that six out of 10 parents are providing some sort of financial support for their adult children; in September, Sallie Mae/Ipsos figures revealed that parents were paying twice as much of the cost of college as their kids were, often out of their retirement savings; and in August a Citizens Financial Group survey showed that 64 percent of parents with a child 15-17 fear that college costs will keep them from retiring on schedule.

But in the quest to pay for their children's education, it seems that parents are becoming resigned to the situation, and are willing to put their retirement back even further if it means getting the kids through school.

The COUNTRY Financial Security Index found that 59 percent of those surveyed said that they were willing to work five years longer if it meant they could see their kids graduate college debt-free. 

And they'll no doubt have to. Even though so many parents haven't yet set aside a cent for college expenses, 50 percent said they want to pay for more than half of those expenses, while 25 percent want to pay for it all. That money will have to come from somewhere, and that somewhere is likely retirement. 

Parents are already underestimating how much it costs to raise a child, so it's probably not surprising they're so (overly?) optimistic about their ability to pay the college bills. According to the most recent U.S. Department of Agriculture's annual "Expenditures on Children by Families" report, the approximate cost to raise a child to age 18 is $245,000. 

When asked about the cost of raising a child, only 22 percent of Americans agreed and answered between $200,000 and $300,000. In other words, a lot of others grossly underestimated the cost.

The COUNTRY Index was created by COUNTRY Financial and is compiled by GfK, an independent research firm. Its survey results were based on responses from about 1,000 U.S. adults.