Proudly sponsored by Australian Scholarships Group
When I fell pregnant with my first child, I had so much on my mind! The list of things I’d need for this new baby was growing by the day.
New cot, pram, car seat, you get the drift. But as a first time mum-to-be, thinking about this child’s future education was pretty far down the list of priorities.
I mean we had talked about it generally, and given both my husband and I had attended a private high school, it was on our radar that we may want to do the same for our kids, or at very least keep our options open. We also knew this would be expensive so it made sense to be thinking about creating this option from the early days.
One day while I was cruising the aisles of a Baby & Kids expo, I came across Australian Scholarships Group. After investigating what it was all about, I learnt that ASG is not just for people considering sending their children to private school. ASG can help parents save for all sorts of education expenses that they (and by they… I mean you) will face over the years.
Now that I have school aged children, what I have come to realise since then is that whether the kids go to a public, private or independent school, education costs money.
Here are some of the costs that you may not realise will sneak up on you when the kids hit school:
- Extra curricular activities, trips and camps
- School uniforms, text books
- Private or independent tuition fees
- University costs
In fact, I discovered that by using ASG’s Cost Calculator, to educate my eldest child going through the state system and then university was going to cost almost $200,000!
To educate her privately through high school, we’d be looking at twice that amount. Wowsers!
As it has happened, since those early days of waddling around the Baby & Kids Expo, we have decided to educate our three kids through the independent system in primary school with high school yet to be decided. The decision making process for this was huge and it came down to three things, what I am calling the three C’s of education.
- Choice
- Cost
- Convenience
[mc_block_title custom_title=”1. CHOICE”]
I stumbled across the school our kids go to, quite by accident one night when I was scrolling the My Schools website. I’d never considered that we would send our kids anywhere other than the local primary school until I discovered and then fell in love with what is now ‘our school’. I quite ignorantly though the ‘school’s decision’ would be put off until high school and that we’d be better able to make those decisions, being that bit older, wiser and more established (*insert manic laugh!*) and then I was blindsided by a school I’d never heard of that was everything we were looking for.
CHOICE. Preparing yourself financially for education costs, specifically, gives you choice. You may make the choice of your excellent local school, or you may choose the private/independent route for many reasons. You may find yourself faced with unexpected needs when it comes to education, and financial preparation gives you one major advantage – choice.
[mc_block_title custom_title=”2. COST”]
Public or private, education will cost something. Now that I have two kids in primary school, I regularly find myself chatting with other parents about what we’ll do for high school. It’s now no surprise to me that there will be costs involved, even if we opt for a local and wonderful state school. Kids LOVE activities – sport, music, languages, you name it and they seem to be into it. These things can be breathtakingly expensive but of course, I want to foster the interests and abilities of my kids. Don’t we all?!
[mc_block_title custom_title=”3. CONVENIENCE”]
Once we know that we are going to want to make choices regarding our kids education, and we know that there will be costs along the way – the obvious question is, how can we make saving and preparing for this as convenient as possible?
For those who are diligent, you might open an education savings fund. For those who want to be more strategic about things, you might want to consider an organisation like Australian Scholarships Group. ASG are all about enabling you to make the best education choices for your family.
So how does it work?
ASG offers a variety of savings plans that are geared towards your own specific needs and education goals. From the more structured ‘set and forget’ system of regular payments, to more flexible plans that allow you to change your regular contribution amounts. Obviously, as we make education plans for our kids there are going to be a wide range of costs incurred and ASG has the flexibility to enable families to plan, and save, accordingly. It’s worth arranging a chat with an ASG representative to find out more about how their services could help your family.
At the end of the day what we all want most for our kids is for them to have access to amazing opportunities. Education is a key avenue for accessing opportunity, so it makes sense to plan for it – and like I said before – it’s never too early to start.
Remember that making a financial investment is an important decision. Please read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) for the relevant education fund to determine if the fund is right for you – available at asg.com.au/pds or call 131 ASG (131 274) and they will forward a copy to you.
