Some Smart Financial Moves When Preparing for Your Child’s Education

Oct 29, 2019

One of the biggest responsibilities parents obviously want to deliver upon is to give their children the proper education. In a country like ours where society places much emphasis on educational attainment and where formal schooling can make or break a person’s future in the workplace or within a business setting, parents are expected to invest time, effort, and resources to send their child through college. Suffice to say, it’s common to see a Filipino parent strive hard to provide only the best possible education for their children.

It’s one thing to get ready to start a family and it’s another to prepare for the life ahead, or at least until the child comes of age. Certain circumstances can hamper a couple from providing quality education to their children, such as an unstable source of income or the lack of financial opportunities. Generally speaking, these things can result to hardships for any family and can be detrimental to their quality of life. Therefore, no one should go ill prepared when embarking on such a journey.

Once you start to think of your child’s education, it would be easy to come up with a series of financial considerations and decisions you need to make.

Have a steady stream of income

You need to make sure that you are financially stable when preparing for your child’s future and education. While there’s no guarantee that your industry won’t be in financial trouble, there are jobs that offer stability and protection way more than others. When in doubt, ask yourself questions like the ones detailed below:

  1. How long have I been at my current job? It’s wise to spend at least a few years in one company to ensure career and subsequently financial growth.
  2. Is my pay check predictable? Make sure the money you’re getting for what you do is consistent and reliable. You may feel more confident with building up your child’s educational fund if your source of income is regular or stable.
  3. Am I in a good company? Pay attention to what’s happening around you. Are people getting laid off? Are people quitting? Take these things as signs about job security.

Start an emergency fund

It always pays to set aside a fraction of your earnings to go into an emergency fund or crisis fund. At some point in your life, you can expect to face frightening challenges that will require extra expenses such as home repairs, natural calamities, medical emergencies, and the like. These unpleasant surprises won’t be as painful if you have the extra buffer to cover the financial requirements for these events.

How is it connected to your child’s educational fund, you may ask. When you know that you have a steady but consistently growing fund that you can use in case of emergencies, you can focus your attention on building up your finances for more important stuff such as your child’s educational expenses.

Budget your expenses properly

You need to spend smart now more than ever. Learn how to cut back on expenses you can forego and be sure to stick with your budget. Set aside the money for your fixed expenses and leave some wiggle room for variable expenses. On top of this, you need to be able to save some for the long-term.

Pay off your debts

Once you realize how much you’ll be spending to raise your kids and send them to good schools, you’re less likely to have the flexibility to maximize your savings especially if you have unpaid debt. Interest rates can cost you an arm and a leg, so that can make money you owe harder to manage.

No matter their age, whether they’re in kindergarten or completing their Bachelor’s Degree, you can expect to get crippled by your children’s expenses. So if you get the chance to pay off your home loan or your credit card debt right away, it would be wise to do so.

Invest your money somewhere

With the cost of education constantly growing, you should really start thinking about how you’ll maximize what you already have. The earlier you have the money, the more likely you’ll be able to afford it when the time to use it comes. This is why you should consider investing this money on carefully considered investment vehicles. You’ll get the returns once your son or daughter goes to college, meaning you don’t have to worry about tuition fees even if you send them to a college that has four semesters in a year.

Today, there are more options for people who want to invest. No longer does it have to be only a bank or the stock market that you’re supposed to turn to. Alternative investment platforms such as P2P lending, which is what Blend PH offers, can be a viable option to compound your savings, which can be eventually used to pay for your child’s education.

Unlike investing in banks or playing your money in the stock market, you’ll have more control over what you invest and where it goes because you’ll be investing on loans that you choose yourself through the Blend PH platform, which acts as your middleman in your transactions.

Nothing can be more rewarding to a parent than watching your child go up on stage to receive his or her college diploma. Your major responsibility culminates during this moment, and it is a wonderful and amazing thing to accomplish as a parent. Being in a financially sound place for your child’s education can make your life less complicated in so many levels, so make sure you’re completely ready from early childhood up to the last stage.

For more information on how you can invest your money as preparation for your child’s education and future, get in touch with Blend PH through our contact numbers during office hours or by signing up as a lender on https://blend.ph for as little as PHP 5,000.