Balancing saving/investing for retirement, home purchases and kids' college expenses.

Quite a few financial advisors recommend that your top priority is to save for retirement rather than focus on buying a home or saving for your kid's college.  I have wondered about that recommendation.  It strikes me that it may make more sense to balance home, college and retirement savings.  If I don't save for my kids college expenses, then I could get stuck with a big bill. Of course, if I have not saved anything, perhaps I would luck out and my kid gets a scholarship or my kid can take out a loan and be in debt for the rest of their life.  Also by buying a home early, I reduce my overall living costs.  Given this dilemma, I asked Craig Israelsen for his thoughts.  

He said: "what I’ve shared with my students over the years is that our financial life is much like conducting a symphony.  We can’t just focus on the strings, the brass and woodwinds need some love too.  In other words, we are called upon to do a lot of things at the same time in our financial life.  I believe the key is knowing how to adapt to our changing circumstances.  During some periods we may focus more on the strings (buying a home, paying down the mortgage faster) while at other times we may focus more on the brass (investing for ourselves and our children).  But, the key is that we are doing all of the important tasks – but perhaps not all equally."

Here is an article that he sent me.  So it does not completely address my comments, but it does provide some guidance.  https://tinyurl.com/israelsencrockpot