The best gift you can give your child….is an education
Investing in their future
With each passing year education costs continue to skyrocket (well over the consumer price index) and our clients continue to express their growing concern over funding their children’s education. For most parents, this is their number one priority.
Regardless of the career your children choose to pursue, one thing is for sure: good quality education is essential and unfortunately, rather expensive.
Tips for saving for your children’s education:
- Start early – Although it is never too late to start, one must not underestimate the power of starting early. Time in the market counts! Over the years, with interest earned, your contributions could grow into an education fund that will allow your children to achieve their career goals and help remove some of the financial stress off of your shoulders.
- Encourage your children to contribute to their education – If your children have after school or weekend jobs, encourage them to contribute a small portion towards their future education requirements. Not only does this contribute to the final investment amount, but it also instils the importance of saving and budgeting from an early age.
- Budget – include educational savings in your monthly budget and review this regularly.
There are many possibilities when choosing a savings vehicle for your children’s education. From endowments, to unit trusts, to shares. Most recently, National Treasury introduced tax-free savings accounts which allows South African registered tax payers to invest their money in saving products on which no income tax, capital gains tax or dividend withholding tax will be charged. You can read more about tax-free savings accounts in our March newsletter, available here: https://www.southwood.co.za/tax-free-savings-accounts.
Planning for the unforeseen
We do not have a crystal ball and we do not know what the future holds for us. Should something happen to you, have you provided your family with sufficient funds for them to be able to settle your debt, maintain their standard of living and still provide for your children’s education? It is of the utmost importance to review your life and disability cover regularly.
Should you wish to discuss the options available to you in planning for your children’s future, please contact us to arrange an appointment where we can assess suitable educational funding investments and a review of your current risk cover.