Saving for College? Here’s how…

Your Child’s College Fund?

Arguably the best way to secure your children’s future is to make sure they get the best college education they possibly can.  In today’s highly competitive work environment, a degree from a good college is no longer just an advantage; it is practically a necessity for success.  If you have kids, then the only responsible thing to do is to start saving up for their college education as soon as possible.  When the time comes for your kids to actually go to college, the last thing you want is to have to settle for a lesser school than the best school your kid is accepted at.

The first step to saving for your kids’ higher education is to set up a dedicated account for the money you will put aside for education.  The money will be a lot easier to keep track of that way.  You don’t want to use an ordinary savings account, for one thing, you will get little help from the almost negligible interest it earns, more importantly though, it is too easy to access, and may wind up getting spent on other things.

Initially, you may need to start off with a savings account though, especially if you start off with a small amount.  As the amount grows though, you should look into transferring it to a CD.  CDs will have two benefits:  The first is that you will earn significantly more interest, but second and more importantly, you will be far less tempted to withdraw the money on a whim.  Maintain your savings account though, so that you can open more CDs later on, or add to your fund when the time comes to rollover your CD.

Investing conservatively in stocks is also a great way to save and even earn a bit of money for your children’s college fund.  Just be sure to not invest too aggressively, you could end up losing money instead of gaining it.  Remember that your goal is long term savings, not short term gain.  You should set a target for the amount of money you want to set aside each year, and you should increase that target every year, and every time you income improves.

While you may not have saved up enough when the time comes, your money will not necessarily go to waste, if you have put aside a substantial amount but it is a bit short, your kid won’t have a hard time getting the balance through a loan, these are readily available, especially to students of top colleges.  College can and does cost an arm and a leg, but the college experience, and the security a degree from a top college will give you children is priceless.  If you love your children and are concerned for their future, you will start saving up as soon as possible.