Many have asked about the best way to save our children’s college and this question typically comes up quite often in our mind. Advisers have provided multiple answers, with explanations on how to establish ideal saving plans. Quick search in Google will produce thousands of blog entries and articles about this subject. Many tell us that education saving plan is the best way to solve this problem. However, many of these articles simply make blanket recommendations and they fail to consider multiple other factors that may affect our children.
Opening up college savings funds is great, but it shouldn’t be considered as the start. We should also ask to shape their mind to achieve proper savings and future. Children should be aware that they could face tough job market and this situation they should be able to innovate. This mental conditioning is up to the parents and they should be able to explain this based on their experience. Some parents argue that children should contribute to college savings, even if it is only five percent of the total amount.
Teaching children how to save could be very easy. Parents could ask children how to save when they plan to buy toys. So when children get their toys, they learn that there would be some effort involved to get things that they want. Without this mental conditioning, children will think that they will get everything as long as they stay on parents’ side all the time. Budding youngsters can be paid one dollar for each chore if they ask for a $100 toy.
This should be the only way for children to get all they want and everyone will win. Gratification will be associated with effort and they will understand that obtaining $100 isn’t as easy as asking to their parents.
Children will understand that effort is equal to money and this is a good start to prepare children for the future. They will begin to figure out things that they need to do when they want something, including college. Many teenagers got their first job before 15 and they enjoy working ever since.
Once children understand the value of work, it is time to teach them about money. Examples of financial education are endless. But parents should focus on the effort to establish causal relationships between effort, savings, money and success. This could go along the way in reducing the actual cost of college and other major expenses.
There are many tips out there that can save us and our children many thousands of dollars along the way. Once our children are in college, we could tell them to shop smartly for essentials, such as groceries, textbooks and clothes. They should know how to cook, instead of eating Domino’s pizza for four straight years. Our children may not cars when they are in college, especially if they are in cities with good transportation services. Parents can put the money directly for college costs, so children won’t need to pay as much for student loans.