The idea of investing for our children’s future in Australia tends to make us think of putting aside money so they have a nice nest egg to get them started. It’s common for our mind to head towards things like savings accounts as being the most important investment for our children.
But, in actual fact, the best investment for children isn’t a sizable inheritance. Ensuring they have the skills they’ll need to function and thrive in their future world will set them up for life. Regardless of the size of their trust fund.
Parents should consider other ways to invest in their child’s future. Yes, a little financial helping hand for the kids will likely always be a goal for most parents. But there are other ways to make long term investments for your child too.
Education is important
Providing your children with the best education possible is becoming increasingly important for parents. This can often mean as parents, you’ll be spending more during their formative years to set them up for future prosperity. While private education and post-school studies can be expensive, there are ways to ease the burden. Consider Education Bonds as a great way to prepare early for the significant cost of quality education.
As well as providing you with a staggered and planned approach to ensuring you’ve got the funds, they can also be a tax-effective and flexible way to guarantee this crucial investment for your child.
Develop healthy habits
Developing healthy habits from an early age is one of the best ways to invest in your children’s future. Healthy habits are essential for both kids and adults to thrive.
Start out by setting boundaries that encourage your kids to get plenty of sleep, eat healthily and be active. And that means lots of time away from devices. Try making being healthy fun too. Cook healthy meals together, go for a family bike ride or get outside and kick
Teach them to be responsible with money
In this cashless world, most kids have very little appreciation for the value of money. Without learning some basic financial literacy, when let loose in the real world, our children have the potential to sink rather than swim.
And that little nest egg we spoke about earlier could quickly disappear, with very little to show for it. Teaching your children some basic budgeting skills develops a habit in your child to not waste money and to respect its value. You may also like to use this article as a checklist to share with them some of the investments to help their savings grow.
Get your kids to do chores
Learning that they need to contribute to how your family functions, is one of the most valuable tools a child can have up their sleeve. From washing up to mowing the lawn or making their bed. These simple everyday tasks pack their punch in life lessons. Not only will you be teaching them the value of hard work, but they’ll also understand the power of collaborating to get things done.
Encourage environmental responsibility
Hopefully, environmental responsibility in the younger generations will become second nature. Start with the obvious like recycling at home.
But also consider getting your kids involved with local community efforts and projects. That way they’ll learn it’s a broader responsibility for everyone, not just in the home. Consider this one a long-term investment for your child and future generations too.
Read every day for success
Literacy plays a big part in your child’s development. It’s the foundation for so many things. Doing well at school, socialising with others, problem-solving, making decisions, developing independence, managing money, and working.
Sign them up for sport or group activities
The power of teamwork and being able to function within a team is a valuable skill. And it can be learned fairly organically. Being involved in a team or group structure in a way that’s fun, interesting and they enjoy a simple way to learn about teamwork.
Encourage creative pursuits
Creative activities including music help your child to develop their thinking skills. It lets them try out new ideas and new ways of thinking, without fear of making mistakes.
Plus getting the right side of the brain into gear is great for skills like problem-solving, generating new ideas and original thinking.
Get social
Socialising lets your children learn to communicate with others outside of their family. Realising that others may do things differently and not everyone’s the same is important. Plus, it helps them understand risk-taking, social cues, and how to listen and understand others.
Let them get bored
In our kids’ overscheduled lives, there’s not much true downtime. But giving your kids the opportunity to get bored (yes, that means no devices) is a sure-fire way to get the brain ticking over and the creative juices flowing.
One step at a time
The great news is all these things can become part of your everyday life, without it costing a fortune or taking up every spare minute of your day. While we’d all love to secure our kids’ futures, it’s pretty much impossible to achieve, if they don’t have the skills, they need to do it themselves.
It’s about habit building. Which is one of the best investments for your children you can make. So, if merging these things into your already full life seems impossible, remember one step at a time. Focusing on providing them with the best education possible is a good place to start.
About Futurity
Futurity Investment Group are an independent and mutually structured financial institution and Australia’s leading issuer of tax-effective Education Bonds. They use their expertise in tax and investment markets to provide innovative tax-effective solutions to support the education journeys of Australian and New Zealand families.
Get in touch with Futurity if you’d like to learn more about Education Bonds and how they can help you with your education journey.
About Carbon
Our financial planning experts can help you with your overall investment strategy and make sure you have the right processes in place to get you where you want to go. When building your financial strategy, you should be thinking about risk management, debt management and retirement planning, to name a few. The team at Carbon Wealth Management are here to help you. Simply get in touch to get started.
DISCLAIMER
The information in this article contains general advice only and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Before you act on any advice in this article please consider whether it is appropriate to your personal circumstances. You should also read the relevant Product Disclosure Statement which is available on our website: www.futurityinvest.com or you can obtain a copy by calling us on 1300 345 456.
Product issuer and finance provider is Futurity Investment Group Limited, ACN 087648879, AFSL 236665.
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