Do You REALLY Have a Plan for Your Children’s Education?
Do you want to give your child the best opportunity of having a good start in life? I’ve never heard a parent who said “no”. However, so many well-meaning parents either haven’t started investing towards their children’s’ education or are saving/investing but do not have a clear and well calculated plan. Do you?
Here are 10 simple questions that will help you to determine if you have a solid plan for your children’s education. For every “Yes” answer, please award yourself with 10 points. However, if your answer is “No” please give yourself zero (0) points, but know we have a solution to help you.
1. Do you know how much money you need in the future to fund your children’s university education (tuition, books, accommodations etc.)? (YES/NO, but I should)
2. Do you know how much you need to save each month in order to have enough in the future? (YES/ NO, but I should)
3. If you are unable to save the required amount, do you know how much of a shortfall you will have in the future? (YES/ NO, but I should)
4. If you will NOT able to save the required amount on a consistent basis, have you or your financial institution determined how the shortfall can be reduced? (YES/ NO, but I should)
5. If your child is attending university in more than two (2) years from now, are you consistently adding to an investment that is projected to beat inflation? (YES/ NO, but I should)
6. Are your funds spread out across a variety financial instruments (E.g. Stocks, bonds, real estate, cash) so that all your eggs are not in one basket? (YES/ NO, but they should be)
7. Do you know how to trade stocks and bonds on your own to make a handsome return on your investments OR is your financial institution doing so on your behalf? (YES/ NO, but I should)
8. Have you mitigated against the risk of depreciation of the J$ by having a portion in another currency? (YES/ NO, but they should be)
9. If you have already started preparing for your child’s university education, do you know whether you are on track so you can make other informed financial decisions? (E.g., How much should you invest towards your child’s education vs. towards other goals like retirement.? (YES/NO but I need to)
10. Do you have an investment portfolio towards your child’s education which automatically adjusts to be less risky the closer your child gets to starting university? (YES/NO but this would be wise)
So, what’s your score? There is an easy way to shoot to 100 points in one easy action! Simply come to JMMB for a FREE goal planning session and we will then introduce you to our JMMB Graduate.
Do your children deserve you being able to answer “YES” from questions 1 to 10? If your answer is “yes” please give us a call now on (876) 998-5662. You have too much at stake.
Written by: Michelle Sinclair-Doyley, Corporate Manager, Group Financial Partnership Support & Financial Education