One of the most valuable investments into a child’s future is a university education. Statistically, well educated people increase their earnings potential dramatically and over the course of their working life an educated employee can expect to earn considerably more than their less educated peers.

While the cost of going to university seems to be increasing at an alarming rate, most parents and grandparents still rate the importance of helping children to secure a sound education as one of their top priorities.

The cost of private education in the UK, for example, is costing anywhere from £10,000 – £25,000 per year. Visiting a prospective school should be a joyful event for any parent, however far too often it will depend on financial status, as this will ultimately dictate what schools are chosen by parents. In the UK, research has suggested that students are in debt by an average of £23,500 upon university graduation. It is feared that any further rises in fees or loan rates would dramatically escalate debt levels.

If you have dreams of sending your children or grandchildren abroad for a top university education you can expect to pay considerably more. At present you will need to pay about $200,000 for a four year course at one of the leading universities in the US. Now keep in mind that this is using today´s prices; for a child that still has 10 years or more to go before embarking on a university degree, these figures will rocket alarmingly due to compound inflation and the fact that education fees are growing in excess of inflation in most countries. It means that as well as student loans, there are also parent loans – with huge sums of money being borrowed by people who might have been planning for their retirement.

In addition to the tuition fees there will be other considerations that need to be made, particularly for when they attend university. Consideration should also be given to the cost of:

    • Living Accommodation
    • Travel (potentially international flights)
    • Study materials , books etc
    • General living expenses such as food, drink and mobile phones

There are also new challenges appearing on the horizon; such as helping our children purchase their first car,  or helping them get on the property ladder, in what is becoming more and more challenging for first time buyers. Not to mention the cost of a wedding! The average cost of a Wedding in the UK today is typically between £11,000 – £23,000.

There are steps that you can take now to put in place an effective, flexible and tax efficient investment savings plan. This will allow you to plan now in order to address all the dreams and aspirations that you have and with a much greater level of ease.

Many savings plans can be set up either with a lump sum of around £10,000 or £150 per month if preferring to save on a regular basis. They will provide you with access to the top performing funds managed by the most highly rated fund managers, ensuring the money has every chance to grow to a sizeable amount, rather than ‘devaluing’ on cash deposits in the current low interest rate environment. We can help you calculate exactly how much you would need to save to reach your goals.

Starting to save early in a child’s life allows time for your investments to grow and mature, which can add up to a considerable sum by the time that child reaches 18. Even family members saving for older children can be assured that by making careful selections with their investment, the child will still benefit. With the ever increasing cost facing children of today, every bit of financial assistance means a lot to their future.

Please note that whilst it is important to have aspirations and objectives, it is important that the goals are also realistic and achievable; not everyone can afford to save what is required to send their children to a top university and investment performance is not guaranteed, so it may let you down if the returns are not as good as had been projected. What any individual person can do however, is put in place a sensible financial plan that will give you the best possible chance of meeting those objectives.

We can help assist you with all aspects of your financial planning. We have a range of solutions for those wanting to save for their children’s future that will suit a wide variety of budgets.

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