College education is very important. It will equip your child with the necessary knowledge and skills for them to make a good living. Having a degree and a good education will also keep them from becoming your responsibility later on in life financially because they themselves can stand on their own.
However, college education is costly, much more good quality education. Many parents have financial trouble sending their children to school. In most cases these troubles are result of inadequate planning. So what must you do in order to keep yourself from falling into the financial trap in preparing for your children’s college education? Read on and find out.
1.) Assess your current situation. Will your child go to college after 5, 10, or 15 years from now? How many children do you have? What course will they probably take? What school do you want them to go to? Going further, do you have any financial responsibilities to take care aside from their college education in the future? These things are very important. If you want your child to go to a good school, be prepared to shell out a few more bucks. It won’t be much of a burden if you prepare early and properly. You start preparing by knowing your current situation. You can’t start unless you know where to start.
2.) Invest in mutual funds. Mutual funds is the easiest and most convenient investment one can ever make. If you invest in mutual funds, your money is going to be invested in stocks and/or bonds and a fund manager will handle your investments on your behalf. Theoretically, mutual funds give a return of 10 to 12 percent annually which is a very good and high return. If your child will go to school in at least 10 years from now, you can opt to go for stock or equity funds. These funds are volatile and may give you huge gains. However, if your child will enroll to college in less than 5 years time or even less than 10 years time, invest in bond or balanced funds. Bond and balanced funds are less volatile than stock or equity funds but they are less risky.
3.) Shop around for scholarships. Scholarships are the answer to people who can barely afford to send their children to school or for self-supporting students. There are a lot of ways to avail college scholarships such as: being good at sports and becoming a member of a varsity team, being academically excellent in high school, approaching a politician or cause oriented groups, or appealing to a company that will become a probable employer. The keys in acquiring scholarships are [1] Good grades and being a good student, and [2] being excellent in sports.