Posts Tagged college savings
College Financial Aid – How Your Student Can Help
There are a number of things you can do to prepare your child for no debt college besides starting a college savings account. In my family I taught my kids the value of money and as they finished high school, the importance of investing. My goal was for them to take ownership of their money and to know how easily it can slip away. I wanted to raise savers and not borrowers. This pays off when they go to college because they will avoid the prison of credit cards so promoted on college campuses and they will become partners with me in getting grants for their education.
As a young parent I never saved for college. But I did something even better: I taught my kids the value of money and the horrors of debt. Now they have lifelong skills regarding money that will enable them to succeed from college all they way to a comfortable retirement. I began early to expect that they be involved in the process of managing money. My wife’s parents have faithfully given all their grandkids money at Christmas. So I made a point to set up “Accounts” for all my kids where I could keep a ledger for them of their savings balance and interest earned. I paid them the going CD interest rate, typically 5% and enjoyed explaining to them how their money grew over time by earning interest from the bank. Whenever they spent some money, I showed them how it left their account. And should they ever spend over their balance, I showed how they got charged interest for debt. This taught them the value of money in a tangible way. Proof of the result from this training can be found in my oldest daughter’s bank account. A junior at a university, she has $10,000 in her checking account from work and savings that earns 4% interest. She makes $30 a month in interest while her peers pay that on their credit card debt. Granted, I also coached her how to find a free checking account that pays 4%, but I have been training her to think this way since she was three years old. She is learning that wealth creation builds peace and makes life much more fun. Think she will have a peaceful, successful life as an adult? You bet. You should train your kids the same way. Start early.
Tags: accounting, adult, college, college degree, college s, college savings, community college, course, credit card, credit cards, degree, education, financial aid, for college, go to college, grants, high school, higher education, learning, money for college, parents, pay for college, quality, scholarship, scholarships, school, schools, science, student, students, training, universityRelated posts