3 Ways You Can Protect Your Child’s Future, Starting Now
From the minute you become a parent, your instinctive response is to protect them. As parents and guardians, it is your job to provide your children with solid life skills and a strong foundation to prepare them for what lies ahead. It is natural to worry about your child’s future for many different reasons, ranging from their finances to their health. In fact, 52 percent of parents believe their children will be worse off financially in the future, according to recent research by YouGov and Haven Life. However, by taking a few steps now, you can protect their future and secure the best possible opportunities for them.
Prep Them For Financial Independence With A Strong Financial Foundation
A part of protecting our children’s future is preparing them for what they will face. To do this, we can teach them certain life skills that will help them in different ways and at different points in their lives. One of those skills is financial education. Recently, there has been a lot of press about the state of financial literacy amongst American households, and the driving need for it to be introduced to children from a young age. It is believed that children begin to retain money habits from as young as 7 years old. Today, consumer debt continues to be a pressing problem for many families including credit card debts and student loans. Teaching them simple financial skills such as savings, the working behind interest and the art of budgeting sets them up to make better informed financial decisions from the time they secure their first part-time job.
However, financial skills are not the only life skills you should instill in children to secure their future. There is also much to be said about teaching the values of ethics and integrity to children who are in essence, the future. Other skills include self-care skills such as cooking simple meals, laundry and the importance of a determined personality as they go forth into the world. Life can throw a few hard knocks your way, be sure your child is equipped to handle them.
Provide For Them In The Event You Cannot
We cannot predict the future and sometimes the future may hold trying and testing times such as an illness or death of a loved one, or the loss of a job. As a parent, children rely on you to provide for them in more ways than one, including financially. Taking the time to secure medical, life and long term care cover means you have a bit of security should these events occur and your child feels the impact of them happening much less. Illness, death of a parent or loss of income can place financial pressure on a family and in some cases force families to make drastic changes as their dynamic changes, including losing their family home. However, according to statistics from National Guard Life Insurance, only 57 percent of American families have secured medical or life cover. When it comes to calculating the right policy, it is generally recommended that you secure a policy with a value of 7 to 10 times your annual salary.
Insurance buffers the cost of these events and helps to give parents leeway in finding a solution or getting their family/health back on track. In addition, building dedicated savings account for your child(ren) sets them up to start life off with a degree of financial security, whether it is used to pay for college or buy their first home. Get in the habit of saving a little bit each month into a checking account for your child. Feel free to speak to your child about this and get them involved as well. Encouraging them to save their weekly allowance fosters a good financial habit that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.
Give Them The Best Tool For Success: Education
Finally, while it is great to provide for your child’s future financially, it does not completely secure their future. The best way to do this is to give them the right tools to create this wealth themselves and that is through the power of education. Teaching your child the importance of education and the opportunities it can open up to them allows them to fashion their future as they want it and secure their future. In regards to this, you can also set up college funds for your child to pay for college tuition and help them avoid reliance on student loans.
Finally, take the time to map out a will and estate plan with your lawyer and financial planner. About 60 percent of Americans don’t have wills or estate planning and it leaves their family (children included) vulnerable after their passing. Consider naming a potential guardian in your will as well as any plans to protect personal assets you wish to pass on. Part of being a parent is preparing your child to face life confidently and competently. By implementing just a few of these suggestions, you can protect their future and raise a child that is capable of molding their own bright future.
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