Having children is not a cheap proposition these days, especially when you consider long term costs. The older your children become, the more they are going to end up costing in the long run. High education prices, for example, continue to soar making it nearly impossible for you to put your children through school. The housing market is also becoming nearly impossible. All of these things seem really far ahead when your child is young, but if you do not start saving up now you may find yourself really short in terms of capital and income when you finally do need the money to get things going.

Surveys are luckily suggesting that people are beginning to understand this concept. Child savings and investment plans are absolutely vital if we want to be financially prepared for everything that goes into rearing our children from beginning to end in the future. When we first have children, they are expensive enough, and keeping them in diapers is hard work. Little do we know at that point however, how many thousands of dollars will have to go into their educations, keeping them clothed and fed, and putting a roof over their heads for the next eighteen years or so. If you want to be prepared financially for everything that is involved in raising your children to adulthood, then you need to begin planning as far ahead as you can using child savings and investment planning to make sure that you have enough money in the future.

You should not start saving when your children are young, but rather before they are even born. If you know that you plan on having children some day, begin saving the day that the decision is made. Even if you change your mind later, the money will still go to good use, so it is better to plan ahead and be safe than to be sorry in a few years when you do not have the savings you need to afford the education of your children.

When it comes to planning for your child’s future, planning ahead is always best. The sooner you begin to plan, save and invest, the better off you will be when you finally need to utilize that money. If you do not take the time to plan ahead, you may run into a point where you do not have the capital you need to take care of your children properly. Imagine trying to send your children to college and finding that you lack the capital to get them there, as well as the credit score to obtain the lending that is required. Can you imagine the disappointment that your children will have if they cannot go to the school of their dreams? Nip that risk in the bud as early as you can by planning early, saving and investing often, and working hard to create a good life for your children long before you ever have to.

Photo Credits: 1

Parents like to complain that their teenage children do not listen to them. However, when it comes to matters dealing with money, the opposite is actually often true. Teenagers often welcome the advice that their parents have to give regarding finances, money management and investments. In the past few years, teenagers have been earning billions of dollars through summer jobs and part time after-school work. Many of these teenagers have gone on to spend all of the money that they have made, while only a few have saved it up, only to end up spending on a larger purchase down along the line. Kids these days need to become more aware about their income and investment basics so that they can learn how to better manage their money as they get older. If you want your teenagers to manage their money more effectively in adulthood, then they absolutely have to learn the investment basics now.

It is your responsibility as a parent to begin training your teenage children to use their money more wisely now while they are listening. Here are some of the things that you can do to teach your children how to save and invest wisely so that they can have some money left over at the end of the weekend following payday.

1 – Lead by example!

This seems simple but it has an extraordinary impact. Your children are going to look at how you spend money and act accordingly. If you show them how you allot money to different purposes for household needs, bills and budgets, they will learn how to do the same over time.

2 – Help open a bank account for your teen.

Establishing a bank account for your teenager will allow him or her to have instant financial responsibility. Sit down with them and explain how they can manage their own account, and take a moment to talk about the rewards that can be received once they have saved enough money. These savings, for example, could go toward their college tuition or even to purchasing a car. The entire process of saving and earning will give them a significant sense of accomplishment, and they will have something concrete to show for their hard work and dedication to saving and investing wisely.

3 – Construct a spending plan for your teen.

Teens tend not to like the idea of budgeting, but you should not allow them to get by without a budget or a spending plan just because they don’t like the idea. Instead, you and your teenaged son or daughter should sit down and build a spending plan that will help them get excited about the idea of earning, saving and investing their money. Take the time to teach them the differences between what they need and what want, and what things are worth saving for. Once they know what they can do without, it becomes easier for them to save their money for investing.

Photo Credit: 1