The best time to start preparing for your child's future is before they are born. This is a commonly ignored advice to parents when topic on educational planning arise because expenses in child nurturing are prioritized based in their current life stage. On year one to three, your top concern revolves around providing them enough nutrition, their regular supply of milk and diapers, and completing their vaccine shots. You save up for significant milestones during these toddler years like baptism and their first birthday. When your kid reaches year four, that is when you save up for pre-school education. On year six, you start saving for their primary education. The cycle goes on until you reach the moment when they start college and expenses ---well, gets expensive.
You want to provide the best education for your child and that comes with a great deal of preparation and financial planning in order for you to afford future expenses so we rounded up these simple guides in helping you reach your child's maximum potential.
ADVANCE TIP: Download an expense tracker tool to get your money organized! These are apps that helps you set goals, monitor your spending habits and track your saving progress, or you can download a Savings Template PDF from us!
The ability to save is a skill that you and your spouse should responsibly share as partners. Cost of living with a child increases as they grow that it may put you in a slump at times but when you have a partner who shares the weight, the challenge is easier to endure. Division of financial tasks, mutual spending decisions and constant open communication is important as this allows transparency in the household.
In the course of your child's growth, you can also introduce them to the value of saving through fun learning in their daily activities.
During meal time, teach them to finish their plate or just get enough portion to avoid food wastage.
Encourage them to be creative with DIY toys you can do together as a family like beaded necklaces from colour-coated penne pasta or a Kings Castle made of old carton boxes.
When grocery shopping, engage them in a fun numbers game when picking the right goods by letting them compare the prices and guessing which is the lowest.
While maintaining a savings account in the bank that earns interest overtime is better than putting in a coin bank, it may be insufficient to pay for all your child's educational expenses. Explore other resources of growing your money ---- get an investment-linked insurance plan that caters to making your money grow overtime and withdraw in the future. Insurance plans in this nature has bigger interest growth than banks.
Seek recommendations from family and friends when looking for a right insurance plan. Learn from their experiences and know what you need to look for in an ideal plan. You can check for Philam Life products online and inquire with an advisor to assist with your needs. Investment-linked plans maybe new, asking as many questions as you can will help you understand how it works.